While F1 pre-season testing begins in Bahrain ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season, an 11th team is preparing in private for the start of the following campaign.
Although Cadillac haven’t officially had their F1 entry confirmed for 2026, but agreement in principle was reached during the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend last year.
After years of trying to earn a place in the paddock, the General Motors-backed outfit should make their Formula 1 bow at the beginning of next year.
Unlike the three days of testing teams have available to them this season, that allowance will be tripled in 2026.
That’s because Formula 1’s regulations are changing next year which could play into Cadillac and Audi’s hands, although the latter are taking over the struggling Sauber outfit rather than building up their own project from scratch.
The F1 driver’s market isn’t expected to be as frenetic this year as it was last season, which might limit Cadillac’s choices.
Sergio Perez has been linked with Cadillac while it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas mentioned in the conversation.
However, Mario Andretti, in an interview with Motorsport, has outlined his hopes for young American driver Colton Herta.
Herta has made his name in IndyCar but has previous Formula 1 experience and once really impressed McLaren team principal Andrea Stella during a private test.
Mario Andretti says Andrea Stella was very impressed with Cadillac option Colton Herta
Andretti was asked about Herta’s chances in IndyCar this year and while giving his verdict, explained how he’s already impressed people in Formula 1: “I think they’re good.
“They’ve shown that they’re up there in some of the pre-season testing. The team is feeling very positive about where it’s at and they made some gains.
“It’s very difficult, everybody seems to know everything there is to know about the equipment. But there’s always something, even a tenth of a per cent makes a difference in that.
“Everyone is working hard, and we’ll know soon just where we stand, but it’s a fairly long season.
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“I feel that looking back at the way Colton has trained from the very beginning of his young career; as you know he started in Formula 3 and so on with the likes of Lando Norris and he’s done some F1 testing.
“Actually, Zak Brown gave him a good test at Portimao in Portugal [in 2022]. You should see the report that we got from Andrea Stella.
“And Andrea Stella is an individual that says it like it is, so again he’s a great candidate for this. And all of this has to be proven, of course, but going in I think he is a good bet in my opinion.”
Cadillac have high hopes for Colton Herta ahead of potential 2026 F1 debut
Herta’s impressive McLaren test will certainly boost his chances of being one of Cadillac’s 2026 drivers, but it might not be as simple as that.
The 24-year-old doesn’t currently have enough superlicence points to race in Formula 1 next season and needs a very strong IndyCar campaign to reach the required threshold.
READ MORE: All to know about General Motors’ Cadillac F1 team from engine to drivers
Jenson Button has backed one of his former teammates to race for Cadillac next year although he won’t have any influence on that decision.
The 2026 season is going to be fascinating with the pecking order on the grid expected to be completely different.
It’ll be fascinating to see where Cadillac slot into the standings but much of that depends on the strength of the two drivers they can sign.
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