Cadillac F1 boss addresses potential conflict of interest with ‘no favouritism’ vow

Graeme Lowdon: No favouritism towards Zhou Guanyu

Zhou’s prospects of a return to the grid appear to have been bolstered by the arrival of the Cadillac team onto the grid for the F1 2026 season.

The American squad was granted formal approval to enter Formula 1 next season after months of negotiations with Formula One Management and Liberty Media, with the squad appointing former Manor head Graeme Lowdon as its team principal.

Lowdon, an experienced hand in Formula 1, established Equals Management with former racing driver Marc Hynes, with the management company overseeing the career of Zhou Guanyu.

The Chinese driver, the first from his country to race in Formula 1, boasts a strong commercial attractiveness for any team, and also proved a solid talent on the grid over a three-year spell with Alfa Romeo/Sauber alongside Valtteri Bottas.

But Zhou won’t automatically be a favourite for a seat with Cadillac, even if his manager is the team boss, with Lowdon explaining the thought process for driver selection for Cadillac during his first press call as team boss this week.

“Driver selection will definitely be on merit,” Lowdon told select media, including PlanetF1.com.

“I think Zhou has done an exceptionally good job under difficult circumstances, and what makes it actually quite useful for me is he doesn’t necessarily need to explain the background of his abilities because I’ve had a front row seat to see all that.

“So that’s a benefit. There are the correct checks and balances in place, so there’s no favoritism in any particular direction towards him, or in any other driver that we may have involvement with.

“We’re there to do a job, so we’ll select drivers on merit. There’s some really good ones out there – Zhou included – and now we’re actually able to actually engage in and see what the best driver lineup will be for the team going forward.”

Drivers being managed by team bosses is nothing new in Formula 1, with names like Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber being managed by Flavio Briatore, while current Alpine F1 driver Jack Doohan is also managed by the Italian.

Mercedes’ Toto Wolff has also been part of Valtteri Bottas’ management team, as well as Esteban Ocon’s.

No names have yet put pen to paper with Cadillac, but several names have been linked with the two vacant seats. These include former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, current Mercedes reserve Valtteri Bottas, former Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, and American talents like IndyCar’s Colton Herta.

Experience will play a factor in the decision-making process, Lowdon explained, but it won’t be the only criterion taken into account.

“In terms of timing, it’s kind of a little bit odd because we’re out of sync with the other teams,” he said.

“We weren’t in the driver market during the fairly critical last round, so certain drivers are tied up for certain periods, but there’s still a lot of extremely good talent around. So I don’t really see that necessarily as a limiting factor.

“Do we value experience? Yes, you can see that from how we’re putting the rest of the team together – there’s a lot of very experienced people within the management and operational side of the team as well.

“So that is important, but, when you’re looking at driver selection, there’s just a whole bunch of things that go into the decision making.

“So it’s ability, capability, experience – but also looking towards the future as well.

“I know it’s not the best answer in the world, because it doesn’t give a steer of which direction we may be going in, but it’s the real answer, which is that’s pretty much what we’re analysing at the minute.”

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With Cadillac entering as the brand representing General Motors, one of America’s automotive ‘Big Four’, signing an American driver to headline the effort would make sense from a commercial standpoint as the team attempts to leverage its image and position in the US market.

Logan Sargeant, hailing from Florida, drove for Williams in 2023 and the first half of ’24, is also a free agent on the F1 market, and boasts recent experience alongside his nationality and a respectable junior career.

But Sargeant proved underwhelming in F1 – to the point where the team dropped him for the latter half of last season. Finding a seat in the European Le Mans Series for 2025, Sargeant has since withdrawn and appears to have taken a hiatus from motorsport as Lowdon addressed when asked if Sargeant is a prospect.

“Logan, from my understanding, is no longer involved in motorsport,” Lowdon said.

“Yes, he’s American, but we haven’t had any conversations with him.”

As for whether the nationality of the drivers will be a major consideration, Lowdon said, “Personally, I see no reason why an American driver can’t be selected on merit as well.

“So it’s certainly something that I think that the fans would like to see. And I see no reason why that can’t happen.

“But the overriding objective is merit. We’ve got a job to do here.

“What I’m trying to emphasise is that, just because someone’s American doesn’t mean that they can’t be a good Formula 1 driver.

“We’re not starting a team for the short term here – the partners have made this commitment into Formula 1 very much for the longer term.

“I think we spoke fairly early on in the process about our desire to also improve opportunities and ability, and the ability for the drivers to come through as well.

“We will be looking at some form of Academy programme and the likes and so, looking forward, I see no reason why we won’t have American drivers in the team on merit as well.”