Cadillac F1 announce hunt for THIRD driver

Unknown driver at Cadillac — Photo: © IMAGO

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Cadillac F1 announce hunt for THIRD driver

Cadillac still have work to do ahead of the 2026 F1 season

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Tuesday 16 September 2025 17:57

Cadillac F1 team principal Graeme Lowdon has admitted that his team are still in the hunt for a reserve driver before they join the grid next year.

The American outfit, spearheaded by Lowdon, will become the 11th F1 team in 2026 – the first new arrival in the sport since Haas in 2016.

Cadillac have made quite a splash already without a race under their belts when they announced the signing of F1 veterans Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.

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Driver pairings don't come much more experienced and Lowdon will certainly be hoping that the Finn and Mexican can use their racecraft to make up for what could be certain shortfalls in the car itself.

Cadillac still in F1 driver hunt

Despite locking up the signings of Perez and Bottas, the work on the driver front does not stop there for Cadillac.

Reserve, or third, drivers are needed by every F1 team. Not only do they step in to take part in race weekends should there be illness or injury; they also do vital simulator work and other essential tasks behind the scenes.

It is therefore important that Cadillac make the right choice as to who joins Bottas and Perez, something that Lowdon is all too aware of – despite no official progress yet being made.

"We haven't started looking, we've made no offers to anybody, for any reserve position with the team," Lowdon told F1.

"But that is now the position that we'll turn our attention to and it helps complete the line-up."

American IndyCar star Colton Herta was hotly tipped to form a part of Cadillac's driver lineup, even potentially filling one of the two seats that Perez and Bottas have been given.

However, even the 25-year-old's hopes of stepping in when needed as a reserve driver have been quashed as Herta does not yet have his Super Licence.

Instead, he will be making the bold switch to F2 in 2026, working with Cadillac as a 'test' driver.

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