Cadillac's application to join 2026 grid was approved last week — meaning the new team now has work to do in the driver market.

Lowdon explained that regardless of nationality, the Cadillac F1 Team's maiden drivers will be hired on merit.

Cadillac 's team principal Graeme Lowdon has suggested that the driver lineup will feature an American driver based on merit, since Formula One 's new team is based in the US. The comments arrive after Cadillac was confirmed as the sport's eleventh team on March 7, with the outfit gearing up to race from the 2026 season.

Cadillac’s new Formula One team has received final approval from F1 and its governing body, the FIA, to join the grid in 2026. In November, F1 announced it had agreed in principle to allow General Motors, the American car giant, to race from next year with its Cadillac brand, provisionally expanding the field to 11 teams.

US car giant General Motors has had its Formula 1 entry for the 2026 season formally approved. It will name the new team after its luxury Cadillac brand. The decision to approve GM's bid comes just over two months after the company reached an agreement in principle with F1 to enter the sport next year.

The Cadillac Formula 1 Team is confirmed to join the grid next year following a final approval from the FIA and Formula One Management last week. While the announcement that Cadillac would join F1 came late last year, the FIA and Formula One Management had to confirm that the team met the requirements to join the existing grid.

A General Motors-backed Cadillac entry will become Formula One's 11th team next year after securing formal approval from the commercial rights holders and governing FIA on Friday. Formula One and the FIA confirmed in a joint statement that the necessary sporting,

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Cadillac’s Formula 1 team has received official approval to join the grid in 2026 and its owners insist the team will be ready to compete.

Cadillac F1 can now enter the driver market for F1 2026 and see six or more drivers not currently with a team who represent intriguing options. That is the claim made by team principal Graeme Lowdon,

Release the bald eagles, fettle those 108bhp 9.0-litre V8s and prepare to think up many more cliches, because Cadillac has received final approval to join the F1 grid in 2026. Yeehaw! Of course, we were pretty certain this day would eventually come,