When Cadillac introduced that Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez can be their two drivers subsequent season, because the group joins the Formula 1 grid, the transfer was usually accepted inside the sport, given the expertise each drivers convey to the desk. With Cadillac constructing an F1 group from the bottom up, having two drivers with their stage of experience would definitely help the trouble.
However, Team Principal Graeme Lowdon believes one other trait each drivers supply will help that effort much more.
“Obviously, it’s clear for everyone we’ve gone for experience with Valtteri and Checo. But when we told each driver, there was that spark of excitement as well and, for me, that’s what I look for,” mentioned Lowdon in an interview with Lawrence Barretto.
“Then we look for their enthusiasm because if you have an enthusiastic driver line-up, that helps gel everything together. And that’s what we’re building now, it’s a team and teams are all about people and it’s bringing all those people together.”
Lowdon additionally believes that each Pérez and Bottas can stand up to hurry in brief order, giving the group an opportunity to be aggressive in 2026.
“I don’t think he will have forgotten how to drive, that’s for sure,” says Lowdon of Perez. “He’s doing a bit of karting and we’ll have him on the simulator quite soon. We’re going to do some testing in real world cars as well. So I’ve got no doubts that he’ll be back up to speed in time.
“With Valtteri, it’ll help a lot [that he’s been with Mercedes] because there’s a lot that is new in 2026 in terms of tyres and power units in particular. So having an experienced driver like Valtteri, who’s up to speed on that kind of thing is, is valuable,” added Lowdon.
“The drivers don’t get to see the in-depth design secrets and all the rest of it but I think it’s quite valuable to have a driver who hasn’t left the paddock, so each weekend he’ll be in all the engineering meetings, his mind staying sharp.”
Something that can even assist each drivers is the incoming regulation change. F1 will implement sweeping technical regulation adjustments subsequent yr, each on the aerodynamic aspect and on the facility unit aspect, and in consequence there shall be much more pre-season testing.
That provides Cadillac, and their two drivers, extra probabilities to get it proper.
“Obviously one of the advantages that we have in 2026 is unlike a normal championship year, where there’s only three days of testing, for 2026 there’s going to be an initial test in Barcelona and then two additional tests in Bahrain. We’ll have three times the amount of testing so that will help get them up to speed as well,” added Lowdon.
Still, Lowdon is cautious of describing precisely what success will appear like for F1’s latest group. Cadillac’s 2026 challenger is “on schedule” in line with the boss, and the group simulated a race weekend in the course of the Italian Grand Prix, with engineers from Silverstone to Charlotte working as if the group had each drivers rocketing round Monza.
But as Lowdon famous, the competitors is “absolutely insance and intense” on the grid.
“The regulations are super tight and so the competition is absolutely insane and intense and we have to recognise that,” began Lowdon.
”I suppose the way in which I try to talk to different folks is, think about for those who’re one among these present groups, all of them have been doing this for at the very least 10 years, if not considerably longer.
“If a new team were to come in and immediately be competitive against them, then you’d be pretty upset and pretty angry. And so, we know it’s a huge challenge. It’s very difficult to quantify what success can look like other than we just have to execute as well as we possibly can and gain respect from the other competitors,” mentioned the Cadillac boss.
“I think that’s always the first target because, if we do that, then we know that we will be doing a good job.”