Cadillac confirm new Ferrari driver as F1 seat option

Cadillac F1 team principal Graeme Lowdon has suggested Zhou Guanyu as an option for its driver line-up next season.

The American squad's F1 entry was formally approved last week, expanding the grid to 22 cars for the 2026 campaign.

The driver line-up has been a hot topic of discussion since the plans for the new team were originally announced.

Now among the options is Zhou, who spent the last three seasons at the Stake F1 team. The Chinese driver, who is managed by Lowdon, was dropped at the end of last year.

Zhou has signed with Ferrari as a development and reserve driver as he targets a route back to the grid in 2026.

When asked if a Chinese driver racing for an American team could pose an issue, Lowdon told media including RacingNews365: “I don’t see any particular problem.

“Zhou has done an exceptionally good job under difficult circumstances over the last couple of years.

“What makes it 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 favouritism in any particular direction towards him or any other driver that we may have involvement with.

“We’ve been involved with other drivers on the grid as well.”

Cadillac will choose drivers on 'merit', not nationality

Cadillac has existing ties with Ferrari as it has a deal in place to use its power unit and gearbox for 2026 and 2027 while it works on constructing its own engines.

While Zhou is an option for Cadillac, an American driver has been raised as an ideal option for the team with Colton Herta labelled the favourite.

However, Lowdon asserted it will choose its drivers on merit - whether they are American or not.

“We’re there to do a job so we’ll select drivers on merit. There are some really good ones out there, Zhou included,” he said.

“Now we’re actually able to actually engage and see what the best driver line-up will be for the team.

“We will definitely select on merit. F1 is not a playground. This is the pinnacle of world motorsport. Luckily for us there are a lot of good drivers out there.

“Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to be in the driver market until the entry is confirmed, so it’s a little bit too early to go too much into any detail, because it’s only now that we’re able to have meaningful conversations.

“But for sure we want to have drivers that can contribute to the overall programme.”