Russell, Bottas or even Verstappen: Who will drive for Cadillac?
General
- Ludo van Denderen
Of course Mario Andretti said it with a big smile. The director of the board of the new Cadillac Formula 1 Team would love to sign Max Verstappen as one of their drivers for 2026 and beyond, but he surely knows as well that it will be a near-impossible task to make the Dutchman leave Red Bull. But who are the real candidates for the 11th team on the grid?
Andretti restricted himself, but in principle Colton Herta will be one of Cadillac's drivers. The American has had a strong season in IndyCar, but is yet to secure a Super Licence (he still need eight points, ed.). He will have the next 12 months to earn this licence to able to compete in F1.
Schumacher and Ricciardo do not seem to be the best candidates
Besides Herta, Andretti wants to have an experienced F1 driver. It did not then take long for Ralf Schumacher to raise his hand and say: 'I know someone else!'
That is of course Mick Schumacher - with Ralf referring to his brother's, Michael Schumacher's son -, who does indeed have experience in Formula 1, but is not exactly the certainty Cadillac is looking for. The Americans want someone who has more years in F1 behind him, will be consistent, will take points where he can and, above all, will hardly damage his car.
In recent days, Cadillac have been particularly connected to drivers who are rather the past of the competition. For instance, Daniel Ricciardo's name was mentioned in the media, but the Australian could barely match his previous performance for years. What should Cadillac sign a driver who has not performed anything outstanding for years? Is he the man to take an ambitious team from one of the world's biggest car manufacturers forward? Asking this question already gives the answer.
Bottas, Russell or Tsunoda?
Valtteri Bottas showed in Las Vegas last weekend to GPblog among others that he was up for an adventure at Cadillac. And yes, the Finn has plenty of experience, and is a race winner. Whereas Ricciardo failed to impress in the season that finished early for him, Bottas is regularly doing so this year. Only because of the mediocre quality of his Sauber, that never means points for him in terms of the standings. On paper, Bottas is a nice candidate for Cadillac.
However, what the team want to avoid is to pick up drivers discarded by the rest of the grid. GM want to eventually become world champions with Cadillac, so that requires drivers who are talented and can grow within the organisation. While Bottas is at the end of his career, there are two drivers on the current grid who still have their whole career ahead of them: George Russell and Yuki Tsunoda.
Russell's contract expires after next season and it is no secret that team principal Toto Wolff would like to bring Max Verstappen to Mercedes. That could just be at the expense of Russell. The Briton knows what winning in Formula 1 is all about, has Mercedes' precious experience in his backpack and also has ten years left in the sport.
For his part, Tsunoda is talented, but at Red Bull Racing he does not seem to have a chance to progress. The Japanese possibly doesn't want to drive continuously for the Visa Cash App RB sister team. With Cadillac, Tsunoda could continue to grow and no doubt there is a financial incentive attached to him too.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sárközi
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