Lowdon insists onlookers should not ‘read too much’ into Cadillac's ‘small issues’ in second pre-season test

Cadillac’s Graeme Lowdon has suggested that onlookers should not “read too much” into “small issues” experienced by the squad as the second pre-season test in Bahrain got underway, with the Team Principal reiterating that the new outfit are still in the very early days of their time in F1.

Sergio Perez spent the opening stages of Wednesday morning in the garage while the team worked through sensor issues, the Mexican later heading out for his first installation lap around 75 minutes into the session.

Following this slow start, Perez went on to complete 24 laps before team mate Valtteri Bottas added 35 to the squad’s tally during the afternoon.

During Thursday’s team representatives press conference in Bahrain, Lowdon was asked about how the team had made up for that bumpy day as they continued to put laps on the board into Day 2 of the second test.

“I wouldn’t read too much into yesterday – yesterday was day nine of running a Formula 1 car and today’s day 10,” the Briton explained. “We’re up against teams who have been doing this for a very, very long time.

“I’m very happy. We’re working through the programme, had no major issues – just small issues that I think every team in the paddock will have had before.

“[I’m] extremely happy with the way that the team is working together. We’ve got a lot of experienced people in the team, as I think people will have seen, but experience of working together as the Cadillac Formula 1 team is less than 12 months.

“I would say, to sum it up, extremely happy with the team, very, very happy with the platform that we’re building, and can’t wait for Melbourne.”

Cadillac went on to record a total of 108 laps between Bottas and Perez on Thursday, with the team and the rest of the field now preparing for the final day of 2026 pre-season testing on Friday.