{"id":149907,"date":"2025-09-17T14:22:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T14:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/149907\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T14:22:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T14:22:17","slug":"the-one-position-cadillac-is-yet-to-fill-ahead-of-2026-f1-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/149907\/","title":{"rendered":"The one position Cadillac is yet to fill ahead of 2026 F1 debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Six months out from the much-anticipated debut of Cadillac in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsportweek.com\/tag\/f1\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Formula 1<\/a>, team boss Graeme Lowdon is keeping one key seat unfilled: the reserve driver role.<\/p>\n<p>Cadillac\u2019s countdown to its long-awaited F1 debut is gathering pace, but there\u2019s still one seat at the table with a question mark for 2026. <\/p>\n<p>The General Motors-backed squad already boasts one of the most experienced line-ups in recent F1 history.<\/p>\n<p>Between Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac has secured a duo with more than 500 Grands Prix starts and over 100 podiums to their names. <\/p>\n<p>Both drivers, who have spent the entire 2025 campaign on the sidelines in contrasting ways, have been tasked with anchoring the team\u2019s ambitious entry.<\/p>\n<p>Colton Herta has also joined as a test driver, stepping away from a full-time race seat in IndyCar to pursue his F1 dream, but Cadillac\u2019s roster is not yet complete.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe haven\u2019t started looking, we\u2019ve made no offers to anybody, for any reserve position with the team,\u201d Lowdon told F1.com. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut that is now the position that we\u2019ll turn our attention to, and it helps complete the line-up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Valtteri-Bottas-Sergio-Perez-Cadillac-2-1024x576.webp.webp\" alt=\"Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez have signed for the Cadillac F1 team after months of speculation\" class=\"wp-image-220576\"  \/>Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez have signed for the Cadillac F1 team after months of speculation<\/p>\n<p>Cadillac drivers chosen on merit<\/p>\n<p>Speculation has swirled that Cadillac, as an American outfit, might prioritise an American for the reserve slot. Lowdon, however, insists nationality will not dictate the decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll select drivers on merit. Having a driver on merit doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t have an American passport as well,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>For US fans, the possibility of seeing a homegrown driver remains alive, but it will not be guaranteed. Ferrari, Cadillac\u2019s initial power unit supplier, may also have a say in who joins the line-up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t just judge an F1 team on what they\u2019re doing this year or next year,\u201d Lowdon continued. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe team\u2019s here to stay. I think the fans would love to see an American driver in an American team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A question of timing for Cadillac<\/p>\n<p>Unlike many rivals, Cadillac sat out the 2025 driver market, which saw significant movement across the grid. <\/p>\n<p>While that meant missing out on some high-profile signings, Lowdon believes the timing could work in favour of Cadillac.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe weren\u2019t able to participate in the last round of driver negotiations, so we\u2019re out of sync with a lot of other teams. But there\u2019s some advantages to that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsportweek.com\/2025\/09\/17\/why-2026-could-be-the-perfect-return-for-bottas-and-perez\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Why F1 rivals believe Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez are returning at the perfect time<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Six months out from the much-anticipated debut of Cadillac in Formula 1, team boss Graeme Lowdon is keeping&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,3550,817,813,816,100797,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-149907","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cadillac","11":"tag-f1","12":"tag-formula-1","13":"tag-formula1","14":"tag-lowdon","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}