Inside Scoop on Cadillac's Upcoming Major F1 Driver Talks
Mar.11 - More candidates have emerged for the two race seats at Formula 1's all-new team Cadillac for 2026.
Colton Herta, already driving for Andretti in Indycar, is the clear frontrunner for at least one cockpit, fulfilling the strong desire for at least one American racer.
The problem? His lack of the points he needs to qualify for an FIA super license.
"If that remains the case then it will clearly be a barrier for him," Cadillac team boss Graeme Lowdon, once the team principal at the defunct Virgin team, said.
One American who clearly does have the mandatory F1 credential, however, is Logan Sargeant, who not only lost his Williams seat mid last year, but also pulled out of a sports car seat he had lined up for 2025.
"As far as I know," Lowdon said, "Logan is no longer involved in motorsport. He's American, but no, we haven't had any discussions with him."
Sergio Perez, meanwhile, may not be American, but he is Latin American - and would bring substantial backing with him from his Mexican sponsors and connections.
The axed Red Bull driver's politician father, Antonio Perez Garibay, told Mexican television on Monday: "Sergio is preparing something big and important for the Mexican fans - they will be very happy and proud, and I hope it will last for many years.
"Sergio is looking forward to returning to become a champion, because that is the only thing he is missing."
Valtteri Bottas is also searching for a race seat at present, as is his 2024 Sauber teammate Guanyu Zhou. The latter, a Chinese driver, has the benefit of existing connections not only with Cadillac's 2026 engine partner Ferrari, but also with Lowdon.
Lowdon is Zhou's manager.
"There is no preference in any direction, either for him or for any other driver," the team's British boss insisted. "We are here to do a job, so we will choose drivers based on merit.
"There are some very good ones available, including Zhou."
Lowdon is predicting forthcoming talks with "a lot" of "very talented" drivers with experience of Formula 1 already who are not currently on the grid.
"My phone is definitely busy," he smiled. "There are easily half a dozen candidates, if not more, who have extremely good credentials to be in Formula 1 or to end up back there."
Daniel Ricciardo recently declared that he is "done" with F1, but Mick Schumacher is still keen to break back onto the grid.
"It's a bit too early to go into too much more detail because we're only now in a position to have meaningful discussions," Lowdon commented.
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
Checo has been an option since the beginning & he's definitely a viable option thanks to Carlos Slim & the Mexican market as long as he has the motivation to race in F1 again, unlike Ricciardo who indeed declared back in November that he's done with racing in F1 when asked about Cadillac as a possibility.
Mick, as pointed out before, has zero chance due to the factors of not having vast previous F1 racing experience & any sporting success in the series making a full-time return after more than one season away effectively impossible.
Lowden may be Zhou's manager, but his aspect is secondary because ultimately the team's upper management has the final say on driver matters, & is he doesn't meet the two criteria (American driver & vast previous F1 racing experience) either, he only stands a chance if they backed down on their American driver desire, which is possible due to the super license points situations for all active American drivers in different categories.
Even in this scenario, Mick wouldn't have a chance because of how many comparatively better options they have to choose from, so either Perez-Bottas, Perez-Zhou, or Bottas-Zhou as alternatives.
All those you mention represent total boredom.
Take the new blood every time
Maybe, but they're also realistic experience-wise or otherwise.
I was supposed to type 'this aspect is secondary' & 'as he doesn't meet the two criteria'
Who is better placed then the TP to decide on the driver line up at Cadillac?
I didn't mean that TP doesn't have any say, just that usually in any given team, the most upper management or leaders are who ultimately decide.
Hey shrop, see Sir Jim has come out and admitted that he's been forced to renege on sports sponsorships because he has money troubles.
'Ineos, the chemicals company founded and run by the British billionaire and Manchester United part-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has blamed high energy costs and “the deindustrialisation of Europe” for its alleged breach of a sponsorship agreement with New Zealand Rugby.'
yeah I previously said , it was a boardroom decision he wont have 100% of boardroom decisions, but as for personal money problems, not a hope in hell thats true
✅ Checkout the latest 50 F1 Fans comments.