Should Cadillac be putting so much emphasis on signing an American driver for its incoming Formula 1 team? According to former Haas boss Guenther Steiner, nationality really doesn’t matter.

The long-time team principal of America’s other F1 team, Haas, has weighed in on whether or not it’s important to prioritize home-grown talent in an international sport.

Guenther Steiner: American drivers “never a thing” for Haas

Cadillac F1 has received official confirmation that it will be allowed to join the Formula 1 grid in 2026, which now raises the big question: Who will race for the team?

The American outfit has made one thing clear: It would like to hire one American driver to pair with a more experienced counterpart when it arrives in Formula 1. Colton Herta has been tied to that seat, largely thanks to his ties to Andretti Global, which initiated the entry that was to become Cadillac.

It would be a deviation from the example set by Haas, the American team that joined the Formula 1 grid in 2016, and former team boss Guenther Steiner spoke with The Race about the outfit’s decision to bypass an American behind the wheel.

“It was never a thing [for us] because at the time there were not many around who would have a superlicence,” Steiner told The Race.

Further, he noted that the decision to hire someone without much European open-wheel experience may not be a smart idea for a burgeoning tea.

“Pairing a young team with a rookie driver who isn’t used to racing in Formula 1, it can’t be good for either of the two,” Steiner said.

“If the driver doesn’t succeed you kill his career. If the driver gets upset with the team it’s not good for the team.”

But on top of everything else, the value of doubling down on the teams American roots simply wasn’t there back when Haas was getting off the ground. Steiner noted that there wasn’t a clear-cut American option at that time, and that a relative lack of interest in F1 from American audiences didn’t warrant any risky hires.

“There was never an [American] driver [option] there because when we got in, there was not a lot of interest in Formula 1 in the States,” Steiner said.

The growth of F1’s popularity in America means that “There is now a few out there. But if it’s not successful for an American driver to drive in F1, there’s no big positives for it.”

He also pointed to Logan Sargeant, the American racer who clocked a season and a a half with Williams. Per Steiner, “not many people knew [Sargeant] was American, especially not in America.”

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All that being said, Steiner and the Haas operation had very different goals for its team than Cadillac seems to have.

“With Haas it didn’t really — American or not — make any difference because it’s such a global sport,” Steiner told The Race.

“The only team you identify with a country is Ferrari with Italy.”

He went on to note that “sponsors don’t care” about the nationality of a team so long as those sponsors can bring their chosen “message to the world.”

Gene Haas’ goal with his Formula 1 outfit, though, was to further market his CNC machining company on a global scale; as a result, a more global emphasis on sponsorship or driver signings could serve as a sort of olive branch that could help Haas sell his CNC machines globally.

Cadillac’s primary goal with its team is to sell its consumer cars abroad, but the promotion of American products, drivers, and brands on a global stage also seems to factor into the outfit’s goal coming into Formula 1. After all, Cadillac — and Andretti — sought support from U.S. Congress when its original team entry was denied, suggesting a much stronger American buy-in.

Still, Steiner does have one thing right: It’s challenging for an American driver racing in American disciplines to earn the requisite super license points required to make his Formula 1 debut, and that will continue to be a talking point for Cadillac as it seeks to complete its driver lineup.

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