Cadillac ready to raid shock F1 team to complete driver line-up

A new Cadillac seat contender has emerged as the American squad plans to raid the driver pool of a current F1 team.

Over the past few months, axed Red Bull star Sergio Perez has been linked to a seat with the soon-to-be 11th F1 team, but a recent report has suggested he may be passed over in favour of another driver.

According to AutoAction, Cadillac have decided to sign Valtteri Bottas to the team ahead of Perez due to his ‘commitment and personality’.

An official deal has not been announced as of yet because Bottas is yet to sign on the dotted line, but the report states the Finn agreed terms with Cadillac during the British Grand Prix weekend at the start of July.

The likes of Mick Schumacher and Zhou Guanyu have reportedly been informed they are not on the team’s shortlist anymore, with a shock driver emerging as a candidate to race alongside Bottas instead.

Cadillac look towards Aston Martin star

AutoAction continues to report that Aston Martin reserve driver Felipe Drugovich is a likely candidate to partner Bottas in 2026, after recently testing with the F1 team at Silverstone.

The Brazilian driver has been waiting patiently for an F1 promotion ever since he secured the Formula 2 championship back in 2022, and has since gone on to accumulate 10,000kms in testing.

Drugovich’s lap times and confidence at the wheel of F1 machinery may be attractive to Cadillac, even if he is a rookie, with the team previously expressing that they wanted a younger driver in a seat.

Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon previously opened up about his team's 2026 driver decision in an interview with Sky Sports F1, where he said: "We've narrowed it down quite a bit. But we're out of sync with the rest of the teams at the moment."

"We were effectively kept out of the last round of driver discussions because we didn't have an entry so we're in a slightly unusual position. But it also means there's a lot less competitive tension and we can take a little bit of time.

"Quite obviously, the number one priority for us as a team is to have something for the driver to drive and that is where a lot of the management bandwidth is focused."

"I think everyone would love to see an American driver in an American team with an American engine at some stage," he said.

"But, also, this is a world championship, we have to select everyone on merit and, as we've said before, there's nothing stopping a girl or boy with an American passport driving for an American Formula 1 team.

"We will select on merit. If the driver happens to be an American, then I think it's something the fans would really like, but this is a world championship, we've got to respect it, and we want to be as competitive as we can. So we choose everyone in the team on merit."

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