Formula one’s newest team Cadillac is now set to announce its driver lineup for their inaugural F1 season in 2026. Talks have been ongoing for months with several drivers known to be in the mix. Mick Schumacher who is desperate for a second chance in the sport will move from the current WEC Alpine team to Cadillac backed Jota in a move that’ll see him replace 2009 F1 champion Jenson Button.
Whilst yet to be confirmed, Schumacher will almost certainly fulfil a duel role for Cadillac racing. His experience at Mercedes as a reserve and simulator development driver will be invaluable for the fledging Cadillac F1 team as Lewis Hamilton noted last season. Having had a scjokcer in Barcelona on Friday, the Mercedes duo came back strongly in Saturday qualifying.
“Mick back in the simulator on Friday night and he did some great work, which helped us get on the right track on Saturday,” said Hamilton. Schumacher was reported to have done an “all nighter” to turn around the setup of the Mercedes car which saw Hamilton and Russell start P3 and P4 respectively, behind Norris on pole and Verstappen alongside him.
Bottas and Perez F1 returns
As to their full time F1 drivers, Cadillac are set to announce one of the most experienced driver line-ups in Formula 1 history, with Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas both poised to spearhead the American brand’s debut campaign in 2026.
Talks with both drivers have been ongoing for months, and while contracts are not yet signed, the framework of multi-year deals has reportedly been in place since mid-summer. Despite swirling reports that either Perez or Bottas had already inked their deals, insiders insist Cadillac is waiting to unveil them together – potentially as soon as the reopening of the F1 season next week.
Cadillac executives, along with joint owners General Motors and TWG Global, decided in late July that experience must take priority. After sounding out names including Zhou Guanyu, Cadillac sportscar driver Felipe Drugovich, and Alpine junior Paul Aron, the team’s stakeholders voted to go with proven winners.
Drivers to test 2023 Ferrari
Perez suffered an ignominious ejection from his red bull seat which he had held for four years, but as Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz suggested before the summer break, “somewhere in Guadalajara, Mexico a man called Segrio is laughing his head off”. The Mexican’s replacement Yuki Tsunoda has scored just seven points since joining the Milton Keynes team.
Bottas too was released last year by Kick Sauber, with the team soon to become Audi having settled on German driver Nico Hulkenberg and F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto. Both Bottas and Perez have sixteen Grand Prix victories between them and Cadillac would ideally like them in the simulator as soon as possible.
In his role at Mercedes, Valtteri is almost certainly to have driven the Mercedes simulation of their 2026, which will be invaluable for Cadillac who face a mighty task next season. Further, the team who will be supplied with Ferrari power units have negotiated the use of the Scuderia’s 2023 challenger so they can utilise their ‘testing of previous cars” allowance and bring their drivers up to speed.
Alpine decide. Colapinto finished
Both prefer Cadillac over Alpine
Perez and Bottas may be nearing the twilight of their careers – both will be 36 next year – but together they boast a combined 527 race starts. Sergio has plenty of experience during his career of working with a mid-field team including his legendary win for Racing Point in Sakhir during the 2020 season.
Alpine’s F1 reputation is at an all time low, given both drivers at different points in time had opportunities with the team going forward, yet the pair have handed Cadillac a coupe detante given they prefer an F1 start up to a team which has boasted championship glory in bygone days.
Cadillac have been given a very short time to prepare for their F1 adventure, with F1 finally giving them the green light towards the end of the 2024 season. The last F1 startup was the US backed Haas team, which purchased the assets of collapsed Marussia F1 early in 2014, before making their debut in pre-season testing in 2016.
Cadillac F1 personnel at half strength
Haas F1 were not subject to F1’s rules prior to January 2016, but with team’s claiming they had an unfair advantage, Cadillac have conversely been nailed down under the FIA’s jurisdiction since it was announced they were joining F1. Expectations for Cadillac next year should be low, the personnel recruitment is ongoing but their headcount is currently around half of that in ihefront running outfits.
The team whose forward base is in Northamptonshire, have though received a significant number of CV’s from disgruntled Red Bull employees, following the abrupt dismissal of team boss Christian Horner. Yet even with General Motors backing and new facilities in Silverstone and Indiana, their debut season will indeed be an uphill battle.
This is where having two experienced drivers will be of significant help to Cadillac with both having spent years dragging underperforming cars into the points, whilst also having first hand knowledge of how a championship winning outfit operates. Bottas was forced to learn how to cope with a below par Sauber car and Perez endured the pain of Force India going under.
Williams simulations how overtaking easier in 2026 cars
No room for American driver
That resilience – together with the inside knowledge of how Red Bull and Mercedes ran their empires – could be invaluable as Cadillac lays its foundations. Both drivers could be described as F1 rejects given they were unceremoniously dropped from their previous racing outfits. Yet the complexity of driving an F1 car in modern times has seen many a rookie crumble under the pressure, meanwhile the experience of Bottas and Perez stands in stark contrast and Cadillac cannot afford to ‘blood’ young talent.
There had been talk before the team morphed from Andretti to Cadillac, that non-executive director Mario Andretti, would have liked to bring a US born driver from Indycar to the team. the big hope was Colton Herta from California, but another disappointing season in the North American racing series leaves him short of the points required to receive an F1 super license.
Whilst Cadillac will point to the optics of two experienced F1 drivers buying into their project, the reality is most F1 drivers who are ditched before they decide to quit racing, would jump at any chance to be back on the F1 grid.
Carlos Sainz ‘secret’ Williams exit clause
Carlos Sainz was the surprise driver move of 2025 having been shown the door by Ferrari to make way for a seven times F1 champion, the Spaniard had a choice of teams at his beck and call. Red Bull Racing were said to have been interested in him as a replacement for Sergio Perez, but reports suggested that the Verstappen camp had put a stop to the matter.
Max and Carlos had raced together at Toro Rosso back in 2015 and there is said to have been tension between the fathers from both sides of the garage. Alpine too stood in line for the talented driver, but the chaos in the ever changing management structure of the team was presumably a turn off.
Sauber, soon to become Audi, were also potential brides. The link between Sainz Snr and the Audi rally team was repeatedly cited as reasons Carlos might join their F1 project. Yet Sainz Jnr rejected the two works based racing outfits to opt for Williams. Announcing the deal, Williams said he will race at the team “for ’25, ’26 and beyond”, with the deal including two guaranteed years and another option season after that….. READ MORE
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Do you know the difference between the words “duel” and “dual”? And what exactly is a “scjokcer”?