By Alan Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) – The Cadillac team set to debut in Formula One next year has at least six names on a list of potential drivers and will decide on merit, principal Graeme Lowdon said on Monday.
The General Motors-backed team secured final approval last week for their entry as the sport’s 11th outfit on the starting grid, providing a green light for discussions about the future line-up.
“The obvious question is whether we’ll have American drivers and personally I see no reason why an American driver can’t be selected on merit,” Lowdon told reporters on a video call. “The overriding objective is merit.”
Experienced F1 drivers without seats who could be in the frame include Zhou Guanyu, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez and Mick Schumacher while American IndyCar star Colton Herta is regularly mentioned.
“Do we see experienced, capable drivers… very talented drivers, who currently aren’t on the grid? Yes, we do,” said Lowdon.
“We are going to be quite busy talking to a few people. My phone has certainly been busy, that’s for sure.
“There are easily half a dozen, if not more, candidates out there who offer extremely good credentials to be in Formula One or to be in Formula One again.”
Herta has yet to qualify for a super-licence, however, and Lowdon said he would have to secure that.
“He’s an incredibly talented driver. So, for sure, it’s not shock news that we would be looking to consider Colton alongside a whole bunch of other drivers as well,” he said.
“He won’t be the last driver where there’s some uncertainty due to super licence points but we just have to live with that. That’s a regulation. We just have to respect it.”
Lowdon has had close links to Zhou, helping with his management, and the Chinese is now a reserve for Cadillac’s initial engine partner Ferrari.
“I think Zhou’s done an exceptionally good job under difficult circumstances over the last couple of years,” said Lowdon.
“He doesn’t necessarily need to explain the background of his abilities because I’ve had a front row seat to see all that.
“There’s 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.
“There’s some really good ones out there, Zhou included.”
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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