Cadillac’s Lowdon says ‘no basis of truth’ to Bottas speculation

Cadillac’s early days in Formula 1 have already delivered the usual mix of growing pains, expectation and paddock noise – but team principal Graeme Lowdon has now moved to stamp out what he calls baseless chatter linking Valtteri Bottas with an early exit.

Just five races into Cadillac’s debut 2026 campaign, speculation had begun swirling that Bottas’ position alongside Sergio Perez could already be under threat, with reports even suggesting that shake-up was imminent.

In a sport where rumours travel faster Straight Mode, it was only a matter of time before the noise reached the top of the garage.

Lowdon, however, has responded with the kind of firmness that leaves little room for interpretation.

‘No foundation, no truth’ – Lowdon rejects paddock gossip

The Cadillac boss made clear there is no internal debate about Bottas’ future, pushing back strongly on suggestions the Finn is being evaluated for an early exit.

“There is no foundation, no truth in any of the rumours at all. I can categorically say that,” he said, speaking to Dutch website Racing News 365.

“Where do I start on the rumours themselves? I’ll make it really, really clear: factually, they’re completely incorrect. There’s no basis of truth whatsoever in any of them.”

If the paddock chatter was meant to reflect tension inside Cadillac, Lowdon’s tone suggests the opposite – frustration at outside assumptions that ignore the realities of building a brand-new Formula 1 team mid-season.

‘No logic whatsoever’ – Cadillac fires back at outside noise

Lowdon went further, arguing that much of the speculation fails to account for what the team is actually trying to achieve on track while simultaneously constructing its entire operation from scratch.

“Secondly, if we look at the job that both drivers are doing, they’re doing way more than drivers in some of the teams are having to do, because we’re constructing the team while we’re racing at the same time, and that’s a very unusual task,” he added.

“So, with all due respect, the outside world doesn’t know what we’re asking these drivers to do, either session to session or race to race, and also, what we’re asking them to do in terms of developing the car.

“It’s clear that we’re trying to get more pace into the car, although I have to say that, similar rumours before we even started racing suggested that we’d struggle to get within 107 per cent of qualifying.

“It was just a few fractions of a per cent in Montreal where we missed out on advancing in sprint race qualifying again, so there’s no foundation of truth, but there’s no logic either to what anybody’s saying.”

The message is pointed: Cadillac’s project is messy, demanding, and still forming — but not, in Lowdon’s view, a revolving door for drivers based on early results.

Herta talk also dismissed

The recent rumour mill didn’t stop at Bottas. Reports had also suggested Cadillac reserve driver Colton Herta could be fast-tracked into a race seat, potentially replacing Bottas in short order. Lowdon was equally dismissive, citing one inconvenient detail the speculation had apparently overlooked: the FIA superlicence system.

“Also, in terms of rumours, and to be honest, I haven’t read all of them, but a few that I have read just don’t even seem to take into account some of the absolute basic rules of F1,” Lowdon pointed out.

“Some of them suggest that we would put Colton in to replace Valtteri in the next few races, or whatever, and Colton doesn’t have enough super license points, and to some extent, that probably says it all about the quality of some of the rumours.

“I prefer not to focus on pointing out the obvious. I think the fans can see through all of that.

“Colton has a programme that he’s working to; Checo has a programme with us that he’s working to, and Valtteri the same, and they’re all contributing in their own way to what we’re trying to do in establishing the Cadillac Formula 1 team.

• Read also: Bottas blames car, not driver for dismal Montreal weekend

“But it’s very important to make it abundantly clear that there is absolutely not one shred of actual truth or evidence to any of the rumours suggesting that either Valtteri’s seat is at risk, or indeed, that Checo might go to another team.”

For now, Cadillac’s message is simple: the project is still being built, the drivers are still embedded, and the rumour mill – at least in Lowdon’s eyes – is running far ahead of reality.

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