Cadillac is considering as many as eight different drivers for the two new seats which will be created when the team joins Formula 1 next year.
Team principal Graeme Lowden said preliminary discussions are already underway with some drivers.“We are either planning or have spoken to probably seven or eight drivers altogether I would guess,” the Cadillac team boss told Speed City. “It’ll be no surprise that anybody who has got recent Formula 1 experience would be included in that list.
“But I would stress that at the moment any discussions are very preliminary. They are just really trying to get to know what people’s interest levels are, what their motivations are, and that kind of thing. So we’re certainly not in advanced discussion with any driver.”
“There’s a bunch of people with a lot of experience,” he said. “Not just turn-up-and-drive experienced, people who’ve been at championship-winning teams, or race-winning or whatever.
“But also people who are younger who’ve got experience as well, so that’s another angle. Also promising drivers who haven’t yet had a grand prix experience but they’ve proven themselves in junior formula and junior categories as well.
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“So considering we were not able to be active in that last driver market, we’re actually in a reasonably good position at the moment in terms of putting together a driver line-up for ’26.
Cadillac will be the second American team on the grid next year in addition to Haas. Lowden said the team is monitoring the progress of two American drivers in series outside F1: Colton Herta in IndyCar and Jak Crawford, who is part of Aston Martin’s young driver programme, in Formula 2.
“Colton’s obviously started the IndyCar season now. He was unlucky in the first race, I would say, drove very well and finished fourth in the last race.
“Obviously we’re very interested to see how Jak goes in Formula 2. The first round in Melbourne was a bit disrupted.
“As we’ve said before, I think everybody would expect a Formula 1 team to hire their drivers on merit and that’s what we’ll do. But as we often have said before there’s nothing meaning that we would have one or more drivers from the US at some stage.”
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Coventry Climax
8th April 2025, 10:34
Drivers on merit, and a picture of Bottas?
Article on Cadillac, and a picture of Audi?
Pretzel logic.
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
8th April 2025, 10:57
Huh? Bottas is fast.
Not quite as fast as Hamilton, but still fast.
But I think Perez is more likely to bring in the all important sponsorship dollars.
Coventry Climax
8th April 2025, 14:09
Bottas was fast.
stefano (@alfa145)
8th April 2025, 14:26
how would you even know
Coventry Climax
8th April 2025, 17:18
Yeah you’re right, that was probably just the Mercedes anyhow.
Lots of japanese are fast too, or at least those that take the bullet train.
MichaelN
8th April 2025, 19:10
He may have run into the limits of the Sauber, but he wasn’t that much quicker than Zhou.
Bottas had his time, won a few races when Mercedes was in a league of its own, but hasn’t done anything noteworthy in what, almost eight years? Even back in 2018 he was already rather lackluster, and while it didn’t matter what he did in the two years after that, he was fairly absent in the 2021 title fight outside his Hungary first lap pile-up.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
8th April 2025, 11:13
Bottas is the midfield driver who performed best at a top car, obviously worse than top drivers like verstappen, leclerc, etc., but better than all of the likes of gasly, albon, or even perez.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th April 2025, 12:51
@esploratore1 He’d certainly be a better option than Perez, but unfortunately for him, the Carlos Slim money & Mexican market put Perez in an advantageous position, so Bottas realistically stands a chance only if both were hired.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th April 2025, 12:51
Coventry Climax Ikr, not to mention an image featuring Herta, Ricciardo, & Bottas side-by-side to add something into the mix.
Coventry Climax
8th April 2025, 14:13
That wasn’t there when I replied, If it makes a difference at all.
We’ve had an article on this before, and most people -including me- seemed of the opinion that “in a lucky position” with the names mentioned, depends solely on how high you put the bar.
David BR (@david-br)
8th April 2025, 17:08
Come on, that moustache merits a drive by itself, it out Mansells Mansell.
Coventry Climax
8th April 2025, 17:22
OK, this one convinced me.
Wehhhhllllll, almost.
David BR (@david-br)
8th April 2025, 20:42
~o~
Jungle
8th April 2025, 10:45
Drivers with recent experience I’m struggling a bit here. Bottas, Perez, Kmag, Ricciardo and perhaps Grosjean?
Jere (@jerejj)
8th April 2025, 12:42
Grosjean’s F1 racing experience isn’t exactly recent anymore, not to mention none of it is from the current aero cycle, so rather outdated in this regard.
All in all, Perez & Bottas are the only truly viable ones with both vast & recent F1 racing experience.
If anything, I think Cadillac should simply hire both of them & postpone their American driver attempts by a season even if at least one currently active American driver reached super license eligibility this year.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
8th April 2025, 10:47
Right, let’s see.
For a more experienced driver:
1. Bottas
2. Perez
3. Ricciardo
4. Russell (outside bet, but sure)
For a younger driver:
5. Herta
6. Palou
7. Beganovic (as a Ferrari junior)
8. Schumacher (a weak option, but still a marketable name)
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
8th April 2025, 10:56
Perhaps Crawford and Zhou Guanyu ahead of Palou, Beganovic, or Schumacher.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
8th April 2025, 11:16
Wouldn’t mind if schumacher got a 2nd chance, given how he was treated at haas, otherwise bottas is also deserving of a f1 seat, and would’ve likely done better than perez even at red bull; ricciardo wasn’t able to adapt to the new cars, so I don’t know, it’s all about if you can get back the peak version of him, I doubt russell would want to go there and don’t know enough about those other 3 drivers, as they never made it to f1.
S Arkazam
8th April 2025, 11:24
Purely based on the quotes:
So of the current ex-F1 drivers based on most recent experience that would be:
– Sergio Pérez (race winner)
– Kevin Magnussen ([historical] championship-winning team)
– Daniel Ricciardo (race winner)
– Franco Colapinto (9 starts)
– Zhou Guanyu (68 starts)
– Valtteri Bottas (race winner)
– Logan Sargeant (36 starts)
– Nyck de Vries (11 starts)
that’s the eight most recent ex F1 drivers
Alonso (@alonshow)
8th April 2025, 12:02
The safe bets seem to be Pérez and Bottas. Can’t go wrong with those two. For a team that’s new to the sport, that’s probably the best line-up they can get. It would give the team the tranquillity to know that, whatever happens in other areas, the drivers are delivering. Both will ask for a multi-million salary, but both deserve it (to be fair, nobody in the world deserves such a salary, but that’s a different story), so that shouldn’t be a problem. But of course, you also have to take into account sponsorship, marketability, politics and what have you, all of which is beyond me.
MichaelN
8th April 2025, 19:14
Ten current F1 teams disagree.
Why bring these guys back? This year is showing the rookies are just fine. Those that are a tad underwhelming so far are also at the worst teams, so they deserve some slack.
XM (@xmf1)
9th April 2025, 12:16
Because I’m sure Caddy isn’t expecting to win straight out of the box. Both Bottas and Checo have been at tier 1 teams for a significant amount of time so their input and experience on how things are run will be very valuable for Caddy as they start their foray into this part of Motorsport.
Year 2, year 3, once they’re more solid on their feet, I can see them getting a young talent in for the extra hot-blooded speed
Jere (@jerejj)
8th April 2025, 12:45
S Arkazam I know your intention behind the above listing, but of course, in reality only Perez, Bottas, & Zhou are truly viable options among those since both Ricciardo & Magnussen are definitively done with F1 racing, Sargeant doesn’t even race anymore, De Vries messed up too much to stand another chance, especially with very little previous experience, & Colapinto will become a full-time Alpine driver in any case, but I appreciate you coming up with the list purely based on quotes rather than claiming anything definitively.
S Arkazam
8th April 2025, 14:46
Kudos to you.
For all others I spelt it out in the first sentence ;)
Jere (@jerejj)
8th April 2025, 12:49
@chrischrill I also appreciate your listing, but still, Ricciardo is both washed & done, Russell isn’t going anywhere anytime soon in any case, I highly doubt Palou would be willing to leave IndyCar for F1 deep into his professional racing career, Cadillac isn’t going to operate similarly to Haas despite using Ferrari PU, so Haas will remain the only viable option for Ferrari FDA drivers, & the F1 train left Mick a while ago, so zero chance this long afterwards anymore, especially against the likes of Perez, Bottas, Zhou, & Tsunoda possibly as a dark horse.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage- Special Unhinged Edition (@davedai)
8th April 2025, 10:50
Zhou is a lock
Jere (@jerejj)
8th April 2025, 12:38
What do you mean? Not unless they back down on their American driver target for the time being, which is mostly dependent on super license situations.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage- Special Unhinged Edition (@davedai)
8th April 2025, 13:31
Lol you included him twice yourself above.
I explained why last year here.
No interest in the burley teams throw out to to keep their names in print, American this American that blah blah.
Just to catch eyeballs.
Just like TP’s telling the truth or exposing their real intentions prior to whe it suits them best.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage- Special Unhinged Edition (@davedai)
8th April 2025, 13:34
Of the others listed, I have no interest. IMHO Zhou is in.
S Arkazam
8th April 2025, 14:55
With the added benefit for the US finances that his salary (if considered a ‘good’ rather than a ‘service’) will come with a 104% tariff ;)
Jere (@jerejj)
8th April 2025, 15:47
@davedai I struggled to fully interpret what you meant by the word ‘lock’ so I partly thought you meant he’d be definitively guaranteed or something along these lines.
Simon
8th April 2025, 17:55
https://shorturl.at/pZpQE
roger norman
8th April 2025, 12:14
Perez/Herta check the most boxes: Perez brings sponsorship money, the Mexican market (where Cadillac is better known), and experience at a top team. Herta is American and fast in everything.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th April 2025, 12:40
Indeed, although Crawford could just as equally become the one to fill the American driver target, & even more likely, if anything, due to racing in F2, which is a more favorable series for super license points-gaining purposes.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th April 2025, 12:37
Herta, Crawford, Perez, Bottas, Zhou, with Tsunoda & Pato O’Ward as dark horses, bring the total up to seven, so if one more were to be added, I wonder who could realistically fit, given more or less all other current & former full-time drivers are off.
On the other hand, the other currently active American drivers are in a more unfavorable position to reach super license eligibility.
Both Ricciardo & Magnussen have made clear they’re done with F1 racing for good.
Mick has been away too long for someone without vast F1 racing experience & any sporting success in the series, so jumping every single comparatively better option is impossible for him.
Merely thinking about more or less every driver besides the seven mentioned within the first paragraph is pointless based on simple realities.
Given the two criteria laid out on more than one occasion, their first lineup will most likely be Herta/Crawford-Perez or Perez-Bottas/Zhou unless Tsunoda somehow managed to jump both Bottas & Zhou despite his Honda affiliation.
GeeMac (@geemac)
8th April 2025, 13:05
Breaking! The list has been revealed:
1. Bottas
2. Herta
3. Perez
4. Bottas
5. Herta
6. Perez
7. Bottas
8. Herta
S Arkazam
8th April 2025, 15:03
With a 43% chance to end up with a single driver ;)
Jere (@jerejj)
8th April 2025, 15:48
@geemac Good one
Lapov Onor
8th April 2025, 13:12
Danny Ric and Valteri though, imagine the social media side whilst Cadillac learnt how to run an F1 team.
As others have said, money will talk and the pressure to have one American driver (likely Herta) will probably deny us the chance to see DR/VB as a pairing
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
8th April 2025, 13:22
Perez must be one of the few drivers who looks faster the less he drives but i’d take him and his dollars. Ideally you bed in a future hotshoe but in reality, boring but solid options like Hulkenbore or Boretas who will keep it out of the fence and bring home points when the situation arises, are more likely.
More importantly id like to see BWT on the side of the car then we would literally have a pink Cadillac
Coventry Climax
8th April 2025, 17:31
Riding along in my automobile
My baby beside me at the wheel
I stole a kiss at the turn of a mile
My curiosity runnin’ wild
Cruisin’ and playin’ the radio
With no particular place to go
Riding along in my automobile
I was anxious to tell her the way I feel
So I told her softly and sincere
And she leaned and whispered in my ear
Cuddlin’ more and drivin’ slow
With no particular place to go
No particular place to go
So we parked way out on the Kokomo
The night was young and the moon was gold
So we both decided to take a stroll
Can you imagine the way I felt?
I couldn’t unfasten her safety belt
Ridin’ along in my calaboose
Still trying to get her belt a-loose
All the way home, I held a grudge
For that safety belt that wouldn’t budge
Cruisin’ and playin’ the radio
With no particular place to go
Chuck Berry (Always drove a Cadillac)
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
8th April 2025, 20:29
Hulkenberg crashes a fair bit if you look over his past few seasons in the sport. Much more than Bottas.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
8th April 2025, 13:37
If they pick anyone out of Indycar it’d be a huge mistake, specially for their debut season.
The sooner they close that door the better.
Coventry Climax
8th April 2025, 17:35
So basically, you’d be deciding for others if they’re allowed to make mistakes? Wow.
I hope they do and prove you dead wrong, even if I’m aware of the odds.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
8th April 2025, 20:22
Shall we all write “in my opinion” in every single comment we make in this site? I thought it was implied.
David BR (@david-br)
8th April 2025, 20:44
Just checked my own opinion and apparently that’s a no from us.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
9th April 2025, 4:03
Ah, good.
Well, just to make Cooper Climax happy make it: “in my opinion, good”
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
9th April 2025, 4:04
Oops, sorry, I mean Coventry Climax.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
8th April 2025, 13:47
It would be a shame if they just landed on Perez and Bottas – we need some fresh drivers on the field. Herta would be interesting likely with Perez.
stefano (@alfa145)
8th April 2025, 14:28
Do we? with 6 rookies this very year?
MichaelN
8th April 2025, 19:06
Absolutely, that alone is a great indicator that the time of these older drivers is done. Bottas and Perez made their debut over a decade ago. It’s time for something new.
As we’re seeing with Bearman, Hadjar and Antonelli in particular, F1 isn’t nearly as big a challenge as F1 team principals have too long thought.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th April 2025, 15:49
@come-on-kubica Hiring both Perez & Bottas would be a safe bet for their first season combined with big technical regulation changes, so going for this pairing would be perfectly understandable, even if boring to some extent.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
8th April 2025, 20:38
Perez I’m not sure I would trust any more. He could start a season decent, but couldn’t manage more than a few races, and I don’t think his drastic drop off for two – three seasons in a row is related to Red Bull. Perez in my view is just a weak and inconsistent driver. Bottas’s performance didn’t look to noticeably degrade. Some just think that because the Sauber kept getting worse.
His last race was a rare mistake for him, but in qualifying he showed that he still can have extreme one lap pace in him by outqualifying Perez in pretty much the slowest car with Perez in the 2nd best car.
I think the only (and major) advantage with Perez is his cash. Otherwise Bottas has clearly been on a much higher level since after Perez’s first Red Bull season.
Jere (@jerejj)
9th April 2025, 9:09
@thegianthogweed I couldn’t agree more with you & the Carlos Slim money (+ Mexican market) are indeed the factors that put him in a more advantageous position to Bottas despite having an inferior statistical record in F1 & a lengthy subpar performance period behind him.
Lee That's Me (@leethatsme)
8th April 2025, 23:18
Of the recently unemployed, imo Bottas is the best, but I’d like to see them take a punt on Drugovich. Palou would be the only one worth the risk from Indy. If Crawford does anything special in F2 this year then he’d also be a good bet, but that’s a big ‘if’. I wouldn’t be surprised if they try and poach from another team though – Gasly?
Miani
9th April 2025, 0:21
It amazings me how no one mentioned Drugovich. Perez or Bottas are top options but are they motivated enough? And if you think of a young driver with some experience Drugovich is the better name out there.
Jere (@jerejj)
9th April 2025, 9:13
@leethatsme Miani
Drugovich has zero F1 racing experience & his F2 championship doesn’t have any recency relevance anymore, so since all existing teams have been overlooking him recurrently, he doesn’t stand any chance at Cadillac either, especially against the likes of Perez, Bottas, Zhou, American drivers, as well as even Tsunoda & O’Ward.
His F1 chances went away for good a little while ago, so reality is simply all against him becoming a full-time F1 driver this long afterwards anymore.