Last Updated on July 12 2025, 1:10 pm

With the row over whether an eleventh team should be admitted to the Formula One now over, Cadillac will take their place on the grid for the first time in 2026. The organisation was originally named Andretti F1, but for political reasons the name change was adopted to appease senior F1 paddock personnel.

Cadillac have been slowly building their team at their Silverstone base and TJ13 has learned since the sacking of Christian Horner, the new F1 outfit has received a flood of disaffected Red Bull employees. To build a one thousand strong F1 operation will take the American owned outfit some time, but their driver choices will need to be known in the near future.

Valtteri Bottas appears to be high on the list of potential drivers for Cadillac and in a recent social media post he was pictured alongside a new road car produced by the US giant corporation with the expression “nice seat” accompanying the short video.

 

 

 

Cadillac may lose Bottas

Yet since then Franco Colapinto has come to the end of his five race weekend trial with Alpine and despite it being extended into Silverstone the Argentinians results continue to disappoint. At the recent British Grand Prix, Toto Wolff who recruited Bottas as the Mercedes. Team’s reserve driver for this year, admitted he had more than one conversation with Alpine boss Flavio Briatore over a move to the French owned team in the near future.

“I saw him today and we talked about Valtteri. It seems that the interest in Valtteri is increasing even more” Wolff revealed in Silverstone. “He deserves that seat. If someone grabs him as a race driver, we’ll let him go. Of course, with a tear in the corner of our eye.”

Despite the recent chaos caused by annual changes in the team’s management, as an experienced F1 team Alpine should be a more attractive seat for an unemployed driver. The Enstone based squad have in their history won four F1 championships whilst under the Renault brand.

Another recent top driver who was forced out of F1 this year, is Mexican Sergio Perez, who is also in the frame for a drive with the newly formed Cadillac team. The team’s boss recently admitted in an interview with Sky F1 stated he would be looking for two experienced drivers for his fledging racing outfit.

Tracking data shows Verstappen secret meeting with Wolff

 

 

 

Ricciardo no longer of interest

Cadillac have admitted they’ve looked at ten different drivers to complete their 2026 lineup, which did include the loveable Aussie Daniel Ricciardo. Christian Horner was asked by TalkSport at the extravagant F1-75 launch event this year, whether general Motors arrival in the sport was an opportunity for his ex-driver to make a comeback. “I wouldn’t be surprised,” the now ex-Red Bull boss answered before countering, “I wouldn’t at all be surprised if they went for the experience of someone like Sergio if he wants to decide to continue his career in F1.”

However reports have emerged that Cadillac have been concerned by the rapid loss of form the Mexican driver showed across the 2024 season but Daniel Ricciardo appears to have ruled himself out of another F1 return.

Cadillac’s team principal, Graham Lowden, was asked about the possibility of a Ricciardo return with the new team on the High performance Podcast, “Yeah, actually, I think he’s publicly said that he’s not interested in Formula 1. If I need to convince someone, then it’s the wrong person. You never need to convince a Formula 1 driver to jump in the car. I’ve got no problem; everyone can make their own mind up.” 

In March this year, Red Bull’s Dr. Helmut Marko admitted that Ricciardo had made a secret visit to the F1 paddock as a video circulated of him on social media. Daniel was trying to sign Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari shirt as the pair walked through behind the line of the motorhomes.

Ecclestone: Hamilton was lucky with his success

 

 

 

Horner backed Ricciardo for an F1 return next year

The Australian driver replaced Mark Webber at Red Bull for 2014 and such was his pace he saw off that year four times world champion Sebastian Vettel. Even after the arrival of Max Verstappen, Ricciardo held his own for two seasons until the pair contrived to have an enormous crash during the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Whilst Christian Horner said at the time that “both drivers should apologise to the factory” other rhetoric used at the time gave the impression he and the team felt Ricciardo shouldered the bulk of the responsibility.

When asked about the incident after the race, Ricciardo said: “We’re not into each other right now, it’s more just about saying sorry to the team, just apologise the best way we can. We don’t want to be in that situation. [I’m] just down I guess, for the situation. [I’m] thankful that we’re allowed to race, especially, myself and Max, we love to race. That’s cool.”

Leclerc reports 2026 Ferrari will NOT favour Hamilton’s requirements

 

 

 

The Aussie was “badly advised”

Daniel announced his departure from Red Bull in the autumn of the same season. When he returned to the Red Bull fold in 2023, after unsuccessful stints with Renault and McLaren, team boss Christian Horner detailed how “badly advised” Daniel Ricciardo had been when he walked away from a Red Bull contract extension which would have put his earnings on a par with Max Verstappen.

Ricciardo has said little this year about his departure from F1, but at a recent junior event in the Daniel Ricciardo Series for junior karters he was asked how life is away from the buzz of the F1circus. “All good!” said Ricciardo. “I’m just enjoying some life in the slow lane. I mean, it sounds weird saying like retirement when I’m 35 years old, but retirement from at least the world I was living in. It’s cool.”

“To be at the kart track… it’s my first time at a race track since I guess Singapore, so quite a few months now. But it’s cool to see the kids… this is why I started karting…,” the Aussie added. The Singapore Grand Prix in 2024 was the last F1 race in which Daniel Ricciardo competed. He was told just before the start of the Grand Prix on Sunday, that this wold be his last race with the VISA CASH APP RB team.

 

 

 

F1 drivers “gagged” over hated 2026 F1 regulations

The 2026 Formula one season will end almost a decade of dithering from the FIA over the next generation of power units to be introduced into the sport. An FIA working party was established in 2017 to discuss the future of F1 power with the primary goal at the time being to attract more manufacturers into the sport.

This obsession with expanding the number of OEM’s led to a rather different process than has been seen in F1 previously. Given a nigh on blank sheet of paper as the starting point, a wide range of potential powertrain concepts were explored.

At the time it appeared that hybrid power units would be the future on the road car market  which was forecast by the likes of Porsche, Audi, Mercedes and Honda. As the discussions dragged on it became clear the intended 2021 deadline for the introduction of the next phase of F1 power would be missed…. READ MORE