{"id":873638,"date":"2026-08-30T08:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T08:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/873638\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T08:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T08:36:11","slug":"valtteri-bottas-grilled-on-cadillac-consequences-after-shock-announcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/873638\/","title":{"rendered":"Valtteri Bottas grilled on Cadillac consequences after shock announcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Valtteri Bottas<\/a> says Graeme Lowdon\u2019s Cadillac<\/a> exit will not affect his position at Cadillac for the F1 2027 season, insisting that he is \u201call set for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cadillac opted to change its team principal during the F1 2026 summer break, with Lowdon replaced by former Alpine\/Renault boss Marcin Budkowski.<\/p>\n

Valtteri Bottas Cadillac future secure for \u2018near future\u2019<\/p>\n

The decision came with the American team yet to score a point in its debut season, with Cadillac suffering a number of recurring reliability issues.<\/p>\n

After spending 2025 as Mercedes\u2019 reserve driver, Bottas secured a return to the grid with Cadillac \u2013 the first brand-new team to arrive in F1 since fellow US outfit Haas in 2016 \u2013 for this season.<\/p>\n

Bottas has struggled over the course of 2026, with Lowdon forced to deny rumours earlier this year that the Finnish driver was at risk of losing his seat during the season.<\/p>\n

Valtteri Bottas vs Sergio Perez: Cadillac head-to-head stats for F1 2026 season<\/p>\n

F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying records between teammates<\/a><\/p>\n

F1 2026: Head-to-head race statistics between teammates<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking to PlanetF1.com and other media outlets, Bottas said that Lowdon\u2019s departure will have no consequences for his future in the short term with a contract in place for next season.<\/p>\n

Asked if Cadillac\u2019s change of team boss will have consequences for his own future, Bottas said: \u201cNot in the near future. I\u2019m still all set obviously for next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then eventually we\u2019re going to talk about what is happening beyond \u201927, but that\u2019s not yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bottas said that Lowdon\u2019s exit was \u201ca real shame\u201d but that he respected the decision by Cadillac\u2019s senior management.<\/p>\n

PlanetF1.com reported on Saturday<\/a> that sources have indicated that Lowdon\u2019s approach was too business-orientated, contributing to the team\u2019s technical malaise.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI think a big change like this in the middle of the season is always initially surprising.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then speaking with Dan [Towriss, Cadillac chief executive], he explained to me all the reasons for this change and I respect that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if we just keep everything the same, we\u2019re never going to progress, so we\u2019re going to change some things.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it\u2019s a real shame that it is Graeme who got out because, first of all, he\u2019s a friend of mine, but I also think he\u2019s done a great job setting up the team, getting ready to be on the grid in the first race, so my hat off [to him] for that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut at the same time, also welcoming Marcin. I don\u2019t know him that well from the past. I\u2019ve seen him around, but for sure, in the next days we\u2019re going to spend a lot of time together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he agrees with the decision to sack Lowdon, he replied: \u201cWith any change, time will always tell what change is good, what change is bad, so I can\u2019t predict the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, I don\u2019t know Marcin yet that well. I haven\u2019t worked with him in the past, I\u2019ve worked with Graeme quite a bit in the past and it\u2019s just a personal relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut time will tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bottas went on to reveal that he only found out about Lowdon\u2019s exit a short time before the news was made official.<\/p>\n

Asked if he has spoken to his former team boss since the announcement, he added: \u201cYes, just over messages. But I hope I can meet him too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n

Read next: Lando Norris gets special McLaren bonus after new contract signed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Valtteri Bottas says Graeme Lowdon\u2019s Cadillac exit will not affect his position at Cadillac for the F1 2027…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,3550,817,813,816,818,44,17165,85,1512],"class_list":["post-873638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cadillac","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-home-page","tag-news","tag-popular","tag-sports","tag-valtteri-bottas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873638","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=873638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}