Cadillac boss Graeme Lowdon has explained how the team felt it was “squeezed” during testing in Bahrain, but that the experience of its drivers is aiding the development of F1’s newest team.

Across three days in Sakhir, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez posted 315 laps in total in a largely trouble-free outing for the Ferrari-powered squad, with the team establishing itself in the midfield gaggle.

Between them, Bottas and Perez have 527 grand prix starts, with 16 wins and helped Mercedes and Red Bull to win all seven combined constructors’ championships between 2017 and 2023.

Experience was a key factor for Cadillac in selecting its driver pairing, as Lowdon explained how the “super accurate, thoughtful, and valuable” feedback was preventing the team from wasting time as it prepares for its debut, despite a ‘squeeze’ on its testing time.

“The great thing is that we’re getting accurate feedback straight away,” Lowdon explained when asked by RacingNews365 for the importance of Bottas and Perez.

“These guys are so experienced with multiple different teams, working with multiple different engineers and different cars, different power units, different chassis, and I know the 2026 car is different, but when a driver is giving you feedback, in particular about the handling, we’re not wasting any time at all.

“We’re getting super accurate, thoughtful, and valuable feedback straight away, and that was fundamentally what we were looking at, and they are quick as well. 

“We’ve had a few bits and bobs where the run plans have had to be squeezed, and with the FIA tests, you don’t get a lot of time to do stuff, and we haven’t done any performance runs yet.

“It is what you want from a Formula 1 driver: super accurate feedback, mixed with being really, really fast, so we’re really happy on that point.”