Pre-Season Speculation - Cadillac 2026 F1 Contenders

I'm beginning to see a lot of speculation about who will be sitting pretty in Cadillac's two shiny new Formula 1 seats in 2026.

For all intents and purposes - which I will get into in a fully separate post - I am putting Colton Herta into one of the two Cadillac seats. Without question, it is his for the taking. I know a lot of F1 fans don't follow IndyCar, but Herta has been their main man for a little bit, and he just keeps getting better. The inclusion of Group 1001, which is a Herta sponsor, in the Cadillac project shows to me that Herta is who they are hedging their bets on at Cadillac.

Herta needs one singular point to hit the 40 point threshold. He can gain that one point by driving 100 km (the length of a sprint race) in FP1s.

If I was a higher up at Cadillac, I would be giving Gene Haas a call, or James Vowels over at Williams. Herta could gain his point before summer break by driving in FP1 for the following gaps.

• Japanese GP - April 4th is the FP1 date
• Saudi Arabian GP (this may be tight) - April 20th is the FP1 date
• Canadian GP (feasible, he would miss one day of practice for Gateway, where he came fifth last year) - June 13th
• Austrian GP - June 27th is the FP1 date

Anyway, on to the other contenders for this seat. The five below have been weighted based on the following criteria, as well as being eligible for their Super License -

• Reliability - across teams, across engine manufacturers, through thick and thin. Someone who can work with a backmarker and frontmarker with the same determination. Also, reliable in the press, willing to hold their tongue and air issues out in private.
• Teamwork - for all of its woes, F1 is a team sport. Not only will Cadillac need a strong team player to partner with Herta in his rookie year, they'll need someone who can build camaraderie both in the car and in the garage.
• Fanbase - this is multifaceted. They'll need someone who can tap into another fanbase besides the American/IndyCar fanbase, but also be a neutral to positive figure in the current F1 ecosystem. Ideally a non-American, someone who can connect with a thriving F1 fanbase.
• Sponsorships - someone who can support the current sponsorships associated with Cadillac/Andretti and be able to bring in additional support as needed. Cadillac being a new team doesn't guarantee crossover sponsorships from Andretti Global, and to have someone who can generate interest with sponsors is perfect.
• Drive - do they still have the drive, the need to win? Or are they at a point in their career where a break a la Alonso or a change in series a la Grosjean are more apt?

The Candidates

1. Valtteri Bottas. (50/50 points)VB is at the top of everyone's lists for Cadillac, and it's no wonder why. Someone who is the perfect all arounder, and here's why -
   1. Though he played second fiddle to Hamilton at Mercedes, he has ten wins, sixty seven podiums and twenty poles to his name. He's patient, he's persistent, and he's a strong driver.
   2. He kept his head held high at Sauber the past two years, and has a made a unique mark for himself. He also proved a stable teammate to Zhou throughout their time together and seemed to pull out the best in both himself and Zhou during their rough time there. Proved here he could drive anything & also that he is willing to be patient. Patience is a thing a lot of F1 drivers do not have, and why I can't see Cadillac recruiting someone at their first peak or nearing it like Piastri, Norris, Russell, Sainz.
   3. This year will be the first time in thirty six years there has not been a full time Finnish driver in F1. Though they aren't flashy, the Finnish are loyal, and bringing VB on will bring in a secondary fanbase that has no other skin in the game (unlike a British driver, for example). This also includes sponsors; VB gained a lot of traction in his time at Sauber with sponsors like Uber Australia when he was able to open up and flourish.
   4. Drive - his return to Mercedes as reserve driver makes sense. If Kimi struggles, they have someone reliable to take that seat. He knows how to play the game, and has openly admitted he made a bad move going to Sauber. He also has stopped playing Toto Wolff's game. Wolff's comments about the mullet had me a bit worried that Valtteri would slip back a little, but he showed up with bleached hair and Mercedes gear.
   5. The only downside to Bottas is his penalty to be served at his first race back, but honestly? He could make it work.
2. Kevin Magnussen. (37/50 points) Kevin has been associated with American teams (which Cadillac is) and has been a positive force at Haas.
   1. Though he contains many similar qualities to VB, Kevin has never won a race. He has one pole and one podium. Is that because he's been with Haas since its inception and is a baby team? Or is it because he's not as flexible as Bottas?
   2. Is a good teammate! The start of the Hulkenberg/Magnussen pairing seemed a bit scary, but 2024 proved that when put in a position to play the team game, Kevin is willing and able to aid and abet. I think personality wise he would get along with Herta and pair well together.
   3. Fanbase? Even if you say you're not a KMag fan, you still have to respect the scrappiness he has. There isn't another Danish driver on the grid, but that isn't as consistent as the Finnish. Same with sponsorships - I don't think Kevin had a ton of individual sponsors, as most seemed to have stayed with Haas this year.
   4. Drive? This is where there's a question mark. I have no doubt if Kevin was asked, he'd get back in the game. But he seemed very at peace from his departure this year, very excited to spend time with his family and explore other opportunities.
3. Sergio (Checo) Pérez (35/50 points)
   1. Once known as the Mexican Minister of Defense, the past few years have chipped away at Checo's reliability, which is why he's fourth on this list.
   2. Good teammate? Yes, and I think it would be incredible to have two North American drivers at Cadillac. Checo has proven with his time at Racing Point that he is a good teammate to those who are younger and good at teams who are still finding their footing.
   3. Fanbase - this ties into the above point. The Mexican fanbase for motorsports cannot be overstated. At the LVGP, I saw a ton of RBR merch, and I would say about 70% of it was Checo. There were cardboard cutouts of Checo in every casino. I even saw Racing Point-era Checo merch in the row behind me on race day.
   4. Sponsorships? Same thing. That man will bring in money hand over fist.
4. George Russell. (34/50 points) Look, I am on my #FreeGeorge train, and no one will get me off until I've said my piece.
   1. This is where George loses points. Not because he's unreliable, but because like I said with VB, he's at his first peak. Him walking away, voluntarily, into a complete unknown like Cadillac makes no sense. George is also someone who, though sometimes he tries, isn't known to hold his tongue. He's been doing so since his F3 days, where he critiqued Lance Stroll at PREMA. Last year, at the end of the season, we saw the same tussle happen between Russell and Verstappen, though Verstappen was not nearly as resilient as Stroll was ten years ago. Also, George has never, ever driven a Ferrari engine, so who knows if he could drive with that style?
   2. Good teammate? I happen to think he would be with Herta, but at the same time, this would be George's first step outside of the Mercedes arena. To go to a team that's brand new and have to figure it out? I don't know if it would suit George.
   3. Fanbase - the F1 fanbase is a fickle thing, and I don't really know if that would work in his favor. While the British Bias is real, I think George should lean into it more, not move into an American deal.
   4. Drive is undeniable. But George isn't in need of taking a deal with an unknown entity unless 2025 goes awry for him. If anything, it's Lawrence Stroll that should be circling George Russell as his next acqusition.
5. Guanyu Zhou (30/50 points)
   1. Reliability - this is where the score tanks because he's only ever driven a Sauber so I do not know this man's true reliability
   2. Teamwork - again, very limited so my score here is tepid.
   3. Fanbase - they gave this man his own place at the Chinese GP because it was the first time a Chinese driver drove in F1. He literally has the premier spot to be the driver of over a billion people due to nationality. The only negative here is that a Chinese driver on an American team in the current political climate ... well, I don't know if I can see it happening.
   4. Sponsorship - again, there is a lot to be said about the money and purchase power behind Zhou. On top of it all, he was in Ferrari Academy and is their reserve driver. However, partnering with an American company could be contentious to say the least.
   5. Drive? He definitely has it. Like so many, I'd love to see him go into another series and showcase his talent before returning to F1 like Albon did during his personal sabbatical.

Other options, like Marcus Ericsson, don't make that much sense to me. While he drives for Andretti now, he's been out of F1 for seven years. If Cadillac pulls Herta, I see no reason they'd also pull Ericsson, leaving Kirkwood alone with two new teammates.

That's all I have for now. Who do you think we'll be seeing in the Cadillac F1 2026 lineup?