Mick Schumacher 'in contention' for F1 seat

Former F1 driver Mick Schumacher has revealed that he was firmly 'in contention' for a seat with Cadillac for 2026.

The young German racer has not held a full-time position in F1 since the 2022 season, when he was axed by Haas following that season.

He then took up a reserve driver role with Mercedes, before racing with the Alpine Endurance team in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) for the past two seasons.

However, he recently left Alpine and has announced his next move, a full-time seat in IndyCar for the 2026 season with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

But, while announcing that move in an official press conference, Schumacher revealed that he was in contention for a move to new F1 outfit Cadillac, despite not being on the F1 grid for the past three seasons.

"I think that the whole situation has been a tough one in some ways, but also I think understandably they went in a different direction," said Schumacher in a press conference confirming his IndyCar move.

"The information that I had pretty much until the end was that we’d been in contention for that seat, and then they went a different direction, which is fair enough, and it just led to me having to understand, okay, what do I want? Do I want to try and keep getting back onto the F1 grid or do I want to do racing that I enjoy?

"That’s obviously single seaters, and yeah, thankfully the opportunity came up with a team, and I’m super glad and super happy to be here where I am now."

Who are Cadillac's drivers for 2026?

As it happened, Cadillac opted to get more experience on board, signing 10-time grand prix winner Valtteri Bottas and former Red Bull star Sergio Perez to their ranks for 2026.

It's clear that Schumacher did not want another reserve driver role, and that honour has been given to Colton Herta at Cadillac in 2026.

The team are set to become the 11th team on the grid next season, and will use Ferrari engines to begin with, before General Motors become their power unit supplier in 2028.

Team principal Graeme Lowdon has already tempered expectations, saying that he expects them to be right at the back of the pack in 2026, despite having two big-name drivers.

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