Cadillac F1 has "made no offers" as reserve driver hunt begins

Cadillac Formula 1 team principal Graeme Lowdon has revealed that the American outfit is yet to start looking for a reserve driver.

The team recently announced that former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez and former Sauber and current Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas will form the debut driver line-up. IndyCar Series driver Colton Herta will become the test driver, but the General Motors-backed outfit has not started to look for a reserve driver.

"We haven't started looking, we've made no offers to anybody, for any reserve position with the team," Lowdon explained to F1.com. "But that is now the position that we'll turn our attention to and it helps complete the line-up."

Cadillac is set to join the championship in 2026 as the 11th team, coinciding with the new regulations. 

Lowdon previously explained to Motorsport.com that the drivers will be chosen on merit rather than nationality, despite rumours of the team targeting American drivers. While he was referring to the driver line-up, which we now know is Perez and Bottas, it is likely the team will opt for the same approach for the reserve driver position.

"We'll select drivers on merit. Having a driver on merit doesn't mean you can't have an American passport as well. We've got a lot to choose from," he said at the time.

Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Cadillac

Photo by: Cadillac Communications

"But also, you can't just judge an F1 team on what they're doing this year or next year. The team's here to stay. I think the fans would love to see an American driver in an American team. There's nothing stopping that from happening, but we've just got to go ahead and select on merit and build a team, because there are a few very experienced drivers available.

"We weren't able to participate in the last round of driver negotiations, so we're out of sync with a lot of other teams. But there's some advantages to that as well. There's a lot of very good drivers available at the minute.

"As and when we put the driver line-up together, whatever it is, it'll be a strong one."