The Cadillac Formula 1 Team’s Drivers Aren’t American And That’s Fine … For Now

Bottas and Perez
Credit: Cadillac

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The Cadillac Formula 1 Team has confirmed its first drivers as F1 veterans Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.

The pair of 35-year-olds was an obvious choice as they were the most successful drivers on the market without contracts.

They also don’t have American passports. Perez being from Mexico and Bottas from Finland, which has raised some eyebrows as Cadillac is aiming to become the first all-American works team in F1. It is building its own chassis for its inaugural season in 2026 with power units to follow in 2029.

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Its first major sponsor is Tommy Hilfiger brand, so you know the team will be wrapped in plenty of red, white and blue American style. So, why wouldn’t Cadillac cap off its flag-waving effort with at least one American driver? In a word: experience.

Perez and Bottas have 521 F1 starts, 16 wins and a quarter-century of driving F1 cars between them. For a startup team that’s never been anywhere near an F1 paddock before, the kind of isight they can bring to the car’s development is more important than any patriotic promotional opportunities. No one expects Cadillac to be challenging for the championship in its first couple of years, but it’s going to want to make the most of them so it can as soon as possible.

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Right now, there just aren’t any American drivers on deck that could help the team in this way. IndyCar driver Alexander Rossi was the last American in F1, but he only did five races in 2015 for the now-defunct Manor Marussia F1 team, which, coincidentally, sold its headquarters to the Haas F1 Team. Haas is another U.S.-owned operation and has yet to field an American driver since its launch in 2018.

Colton Herta is the most recent American IndyCar driver that’s been linked to an F1 move, but he hasn’t yet earned enough points for the FIA Super License required to drive in F1. He does drive for Andretti Global, however, which is connected to the Cadillac Formula 1 Team through common co-ownership. Rumor this week is that Herta is considering switching from IndyCar to Formula 2, where it would be easier to get the points, but neither he nor Cadillac Formula 1 Team CEO Dan Towriss would confirm the possibility of such a move to the Associated Press.

There is already an American in F2, however. Jak Crawford, who has also been an Andretti Formula E reserve driver and currently sits second in the points standings racing for the DAMS Lucas Oil team in his third season in the series. He was also part of the Aston Martin development drive program and has tested in the team’s cars. Crawford earlier this year said he had been in contact Cadillac, but didn’t provide details. It’s possible then that he’ll join the team in a reserve role with an eye on moving into one of the seats in a few years. If he wins the F2 championship, the rules stipulate that he cannot compete in the series again next year. Nevertheless, he is on track to get a super license at the end of the season. Max Esterson is another American in F2, but he has yet to score a point this year.

Also in the wings is 19-year-old NASCAR phenom Connor Zilisch, who is moving to the Cup Series full-time with Trackhouse Racing next year, which is a Chevrolet team. Zilisch is a skilled road racer with a Daytona 24 Hours LMP2 class win in 2024 and drove a Corvette in this year’s race. While he is currently focused on NASCAR, he has mentioned his interest in pursuing other disciplines, including F1. Cadillac also competes in the IMSA and the WEC (World Endurance Championship), so it has plenty of opportunities to find Zilisch and Crawford some extra seat time in a top sports car series as they hone their skills.

On the upside for Cadillac in the marketing department, Perez and Bottas are both well-known in motorsports, were featured in the popular Netflix series “Drive to Survive,” and are fluent in English. Bottas, in particular, almost sounds like a native speaker and has already embraced his role with an image on his social media depicting him surfing a with an American flag in one hand and what’s likely meant to be a can of beer in the other. He gets it.

Hopefully for Cadillac the strategy pays off and by the time Herta or Crawford or the next big thing is ready to take a seat, it will be in a car that can win.