Cadillac’s Formula 1 program is at full velocity making ready for the outfit’s debut season in 2026, the place it joins because the grid’s eleventh staff.
The id of its two drivers has but to be revealed. In truth, the staff has mentioned naming its lineup is means down the road of priorities because it steams towards its first race, the Australian Grand Prix on March 8 subsequent yr, which follows 10 days of preseason assessments throughout Barcelona and Bahrain.
With F1’s foolish season normally exploding into life within the European summer time, the hypothesis about who will probably be racing for F1’s eleventh staff goes to accentuate within the coming weeks. So who could possibly be taking the 2 race seats for the Detroit marque?
What is the holdup?
Cadillac is in a comparatively relaxed place on the subject of asserting its drivers. With the staff’s debut quick approaching, all consideration is targeted on the automobile. The id of these within the cockpit can wait.
As staff boss Graeme Lowdon lately informed the media throughout a tour of the team’s new factory: “A superb remark, really, from somebody strolling round after they noticed all of the stuff that was happening, it was, ‘I can see why the drivers is not the primary factor on the listing, as it’s at different groups, the place they’re coping with a distinct degree of what is already in place’. So, no, nothing’s determined but.”
However there’s larger components at play as nicely than merely constructing a staff.
Lots of F1’s big-name drivers are locked down for a number of seasons of their present staff. There’s additionally typically little to be gained by making early driver market selections. Say, for instance, a seismic shift occurred within the subsequent few months and Max Verstappen did resolve to depart Purple Bull for Mercedes or Aston Martin — unlikely, however nonetheless a lingering rumor within the paddock — then the ripple impact can be enormous. Alpine, who will race with Mercedes energy in 2026, additionally seems set to have what could possibly be a really interesting seat out there, with the staff unconvinced by each Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto.
The frontrunners
As Lowdon went on to say: “We all know who’s available in the market, we have a good suggestion of what we want, however we’re nonetheless a way off reaching that stage. I feel there is a very robust argument to say {that a} new staff in its first yr of racing would profit vastly from people who find themselves skilled.”
Two drivers with respectable race-winning expertise from inside a championship-winning staff can be found, and seem like the obvious and essentially the most desired candidates.
Sergio Pérez
Pérez has been on the sidelines since being pushed out at Purple Bull on the finish of final yr. The failure of each Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda to do any higher in that automobile this yr has helped there be a fast revisionism on how Pérez really fared, though his 2023 and 2024 seasons have been extremely tough. It’s a identified reality within the paddock that being Verstappen’s teammate would possibly the hardest job of all of them, and Pérez’s status has not been considerably broken to rule him out of a possibility right here.
ESPN sources have mentioned Cadillac instantly reached out to Pérez as soon as his Purple Bull deal was minimize quick. He has been in no rush to commit, in a position to take pleasure in life away from racing for the primary time since he was a toddler, however then nor has the American staff — and it’s understood Pérez stays prime of their listing. A a number of race winner and vastly widespread among the many Latin American fanbase, he would make quite a lot of sense for Cadillac’s maiden F1 season.
Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas got social media buzzing with a latest publish the place he approached a parked Cadillac and mentioned, “Oh wow, that is really a pleasant seat.” The cheeky, teasing publish advised a supreme confidence in what he will probably be doing subsequent season, nevertheless it was classic Bottas. The publish was overwhelmingly nicely acquired, demonstrating simply how widespread the previous Mercedes driver stays among the many F1 fanbase.
Clearly, Bottas is a robust contender and ESPN understands talks have been happening for some time. Like Pérez, his pedigree is apparent, with perception of the interior workings of the dynasty Mercedes staff in his again pocket. Not like Pérez, Bottas was in a position to take pleasure in a renaissance after he stopped being the teammate of a world champion, with two robust seasons at Sauber. There is not any doubt the Cadillac curiosity is robust. Bottas is a confirmed commodity and nonetheless has loads left within the tank to provide one other staff.
It is price noting that Cadillac might need their work minimize out if they need each Pérez and Bottas to steer the road. Flavio Briatore is known to have reached out to each about an Alpine seat. Beforehand Alpine has been a dangerous proposition, however it’s switching to Mercedes energy subsequent season, making it a really engaging proposition.
Different choices
Zhou Guanyu
Maybe a left-field choice, however Zhou’s identify has circled for some time. China’s first ever F1 driver had three seasons as Bottas’ teammate at Suber however by no means set the world alight throughout that point. Paddock consensus is he is a superb driver, with an apparent upside: enormous marketability in Asia, which is one thing extremely invaluable to automobile producers.
Since leaving Sauber, Zhou has grow to be reserve and simulator driver for Ferrari, preserving him proper within the thick of the paddock in his absence. There’s one other good purpose he is within the body: Cadillac staff boss Lowdon is his supervisor.
Yuki Tsunoda
It is arduous to make sense of what Tsunoda does subsequent. His dream transfer to Purple Bull has changed into one thing of a nightmare for the reason that Japanese Grand Prix as he is fallen sufferer to the identical points encountered by Pérez: the cruel measuring stick of being Verstappen’s teammate. Tsunoda’s shut hyperlinks to Honda — who gave Purple Bull an engine low cost for the ultimate yr of their partnership in alternate for his promotion — makes it unlikely he’ll keep on the former world champions past this season.
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Cadillac would appear to be a sexy proposition; an escape from the Purple Bull program and a possibility to get in on the bottom ground with a staff set to be a completely fledged producer by the top of the last decade. Sources have informed ESPN that Tsunoda’s agent spoke with Cadillac on the Monaco Grand Prix; casual discussions had already been underway earlier than Tsunoda’s shock promotion in April, which briefly put issues on ice.
Are there any viable American or IndyCar candidates?
From the very starting, there was a transparent need to have an American driver fronting this outfit. Even when Michael Andretti was attempting to purchase Sauber a couple of years earlier than the plans for an eleventh staff received off the bottom, it was clear IndyCar driver Colton Herta was central to his plans. Whereas Andretti has been sidelined within the Cadillac challenge, father Mario is on the board, and the dream state of affairs can be to have a U.S. driver on the roster.
Attaining this may really be tough. Herta isn’t any certainty; he wants to complete fourth within the championship this yr — or fifth, with two FP1 appearances — earlier than the top of the F1 season with a view to have the tremendous license factors he must be eligible to compete subsequent yr. Earlier this yr he appeared to distance himself from the thought of shifting over to F1.
There is a left-field choice nearer to dwelling within the F1 orbit. Jak Crawford, born in Charlotte, North Carolina, is racing in System 2 this season and will probably be granted a brilliant license if he finishes fifth or larger within the championship. An Aston Martin reserve drivers, Crawford would possibly current a dangerous choice as a rookie, however 2025 has demonstrated how F1-ready many younger drivers within the feeder collection are after they make the step up. There is not any purpose to suppose he could not do the identical; he is proven flashes of actual promise in F2, the place he’s third within the championship, with wins in Monaco and Imola to his identify.
What about Ricciardo?
Daniel Ricciardo is probably the elephant within the room whereas discussing Cadillac’s choices. The mega-popular Australian has not been again within the System 1 paddock since he was unceremoniously kicked to the curb by Purple Bull after final yr’s Singapore Grand Prix. Ricciardo can be one of the best driver out there purely from a advertising and marketing perspective, and if he may rekindle the type of his first stint with Purple Bull then it could possibly be a dream transfer.
There may be little indication that Ricciardo is determined to return to F1, although. Since leaving close to the top of final season, he has grown a beard and seems to be having fun with downtime on his Perth farm — on prime of launching a brand new tailgate firm alongside his wine enterprise, DR3, and his Enchanté clothes vary. He appears joyful to give attention to these ventures for the foreseeable.
At a New York pop-up occasion for his clothes line final yr, a fan filmed a selfie with Ricciardo and easily requested him, “Cadillac? Cadillac?” Ricciardo shook his head and simply replied, “Nah, I am executed.” That sentiment seems to be respectable. Sources near Ricciardo have informed ESPN that he has zero curiosity in returning to System 1 and might be executed with motor racing for good.