The four Cadillac F1 candidates who stumbled at the last hurdle
Four other drivers with varying experience and links to Cadillac failed to secure the seats that ultimately went to Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.
Cadillac went for the ‘safe’ route while finalising the driver line-up for its Formula 1 debut in 2026, choosing Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas due to their recent experience in grand prix machinery.
But it meant that several other names who were in the running eventually missed the cut, and are now forced to look elsewhere.
From the outset, the General Motors brand had signalled its intention to sign a US-born driver to honour its American heritage.
However, it quickly became clear that there were too many hurdles to achieve that ambition as early as 2026. While Cadillac is still keen on creating a ‘pathway’ for an American driver into F1, the world’s third populous nation won’t be represented on next year’s grid.
With American drivers - particularly from IndyCar - out of the frame, attention turned towards talent with experience of the European racing scene.
At one stage, the squad run in collaboration with TWG Global considered pairing a rookie with an experienced hand. This is the strategy that Audi has employed with Sauber this year, with Gabriel Bortoleto stepping up from F2 as the reigning champion and partnering with Nico Hulkenberg.
Cadillac spoke to Mercedes and Aston Martin drivers
Two drivers without prior F1 experience that Cadillac considered were Mercedes reserve Fred Vesti and Aston Martin’s third driver Felipe Drugovich.
Despite not having contested an F1 race to date, both have accumulated thousands of kilometres in grand prix machinery thanks to being part of separate young driver programmes.
Vesti is also a part of Cadillac’s extended motorsport family after landing a deal to race for the factory Action Express Racing team in IMSA’s endurance events and the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Meanwhile, Drugovich has now made two Le Mans starts in Cadillac’s LMDh prototype, and he also joined Vesti at AXR in January’s Daytona 24 Hours.
Ultimately, neither Vesti nor Drugovich got the nod, with the American squad opting for experience over youth.
Mick Schumacher was in the mix at Cadillac
Two other drivers that were in the frame for the Cadillac seat did come with F1 pedigree: Zhou Guanyu and Mick Schumacher.
Zhou was previously managed by Cadillac’s team principal Graeme Lowdon and is currently a reserve driver for Ferrari, the manufacturer GM has partnered with for its F1 entry.
Signing Zhou would have helped the team maintain close ties with Ferrari while it set up its in-house programme for the 2029 season.
However, Bottas had comprehensively outperformed Zhou during their final year as teammates at Sauber in 2024, thus making the choice easy for the team.
Schumacher was also seen as a contender, with the German having repeatedly expressed his desire to return to F1 despite enjoying considerable success in sportscar racing with Alpine.
Ultimately, Cadillac decided against having a young racer in its line-up, closing the door on Schumacher - but also Zhou, Vesti and Drugovich.
Schumacher may still end up at Cadillac next year, but as part of the factory Jota team in the World Endurance Championship.
Rachit joined the Crash.net team in 2025 with a primary focus on F1 and sportscar racing.
He previously served as a news editor at Motorsport.com, where he played a key role in the day-to-day editorial operations.
