Cadillac rookie in 2026 would be 'good for neither side'

From Sergio Perez to Colton Herta via Guanyu-Zhou, Cadillac has plenty of options when it comes to choosing who will defend the American manufacturer's colours in the 2026 season. Arriving as the 11th team on the grid, the team will have to be attractive if it hopes to attract more than drivers who are used to the back of the grid.

But most of the grid already has a contract running until at least the end of 2026, and among the drivers who are free at the end of the season (Lawson, Doohan, Hadjar, Tsunoda, Russell and Antonelli), the majority could be extended. Yuki tsunoda seems however to be led to leave Racing Bulls and could be a prime lead for Cadillac, which is also looking to recruit an American driver.

The manufacturer will then certainly have to choose an inexperienced driver because the only American to have recently gone through the F1 is nothing else that Logan sargeant, whose brief stint at Williams has not convinced of its ability to reach the level of F1, quite the contrary. Second American team on the grid with Haas, Cadillac will still try to attract a driver from Uncle Sam's country, something that the team now led by Ayao Komatsu has never done.

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Steiner never recruited an American at Haas

“It was never a concern for us because at the time there weren’t many people who had a super license.” assures Günther Steiner, Komatsu's predecessor, who has never been a big fan of signing rookie drivers either, especially since the duo's failure mazepin - Schumacher in 2021. " Putting a young team with a rookie driver who is not used to racing in Formula 1 can't be good for either of them. If the driver doesn't perform, you kill his career. If the driver gets angry with the team, it's not good for the team." lists the Italian at the microphone of The Race.

“There has never been an American driver at Haas because when we came there was not much interest in Formula 1 in the United States. There are a few now. But if an American driver does not succeed in driving in F1, there is not much advantage in that. We had Logan Sargeant in Formula 1, not many people knew he was American, especially not in America.” continues Günther Steiner. So the question arises for Cadillac: should it really insist on recruiting a driver from Uncle Sam's country at all costs, even if it means neglecting possible better options? Especially since in addition to the drivers whose contracts are ending, Sergio Pérez, Valtteri Bottas, Guanyu Zhou, even Kevin Magnussen, are waiting for a potential call to return to the premier category of motorsport.

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