{"id":335915,"date":"2025-08-11T14:20:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T14:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/335915\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T14:20:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T14:20:13","slug":"cadillac-now-look-guaranteed-to-sign-28-dnf-driver-for-the-2026-formula-1-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/335915\/","title":{"rendered":"Cadillac now look \u2018guaranteed\u2019 to sign 28-DNF driver for the 2026 Formula 1 season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Formula 1 driver market hasn\u2019t burst into life in the same way as last season, when it dominated the off-track conversation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The grid looks very different this season compared to last year, with six rookies taking part in their first F1 campaigns, and the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz leading the changes in the driver market<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mercedes look set to confirm George Russell\u2019s new contract soon<\/a>, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli set to join him, leaving only a few vacant seats for 2026.<\/p>\n\nTEAM<\/strong><\/td>\nDRIVER 1<\/strong><\/td>\nDRIVER 2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAlpine<\/td>\nPierre Gasly<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAston Martin<\/td>\nFernando Alonso<\/td>\nLance Stroll<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAudi<\/td>\nGabriel Bortoleto<\/td>\nNico Hulkenberg<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nCadillac<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nFerrari<\/td>\nCharles Leclerc<\/td>\nLewis Hamilton<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nHaas<\/td>\nEsteban Ocon<\/td>\nOliver Bearman<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nMcLaren<\/td>\nLando Norris<\/td>\nOscar Piastri<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nMercedes<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nRacing Bulls<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nRed Bull Racing<\/td>\nMax Verstappen<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nWilliams<\/td>\nAlex Albon<\/td>\nCarlos Sainz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

2026 confirmed F1 drivers<\/p>\n

Alpine need to decide who will be Pierre Gasly\u2019s teammate next year, and only Max Verstappen has been confirmed out of the Red Bull-backed quartet for the upcoming season.<\/p>\n

However, there are two more available seats on the grid for 2026, as Cadillac<\/a> will make their Formula 1 bow in just a few months.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of drivers putting their hats in the ring to drive for Graeme Lowdon\u2019s<\/a> team next season.<\/p>\n

The American outfit haven\u2019t confirmed either of their drivers for next year yet, but journalist Julianne Cerasoli believes one driver looks \u2018guaranteed\u2019 to be in one of their cars.<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/strong>: All to know about General Motors\u2019 Cadillac F1 team from engine to drivers<\/a><\/p>\n

\"MercedesPhoto by Andrea Diodato\/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesValtteri Bottas looks \u2018guaranteed\u2019 to be racing for Cadillac during the 2026 Formula 1 season<\/p>\n

Cerasoli answered a question on her YouTube channel about Aston Martin reserve driver Felipe Drugovich\u2019s chances of racing for Cadillac next season and said: \u201cPerez is back in the running, Bottas is guaranteed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe short and honest answer is that I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more complete answer is that apparently no one knows. There was a meeting at Cadillac last Tuesday with the board, GM, and the racing team as well, where they were going to discuss a series of things.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a huge list, and one of the things on that list was the direction regarding the drivers, which is what no one knows.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd even the people around Bottas were saying that we didn\u2019t hear anything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that, right, Bottas was the one who was closer [to the seat] because he had already discussed details of his contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to remind you that Bottas had already discussed and finalised the details of his contract with Sauber last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it\u2019s one thing to finalise the details, and another to put your signature on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/strong>: Valtteri Bottas\u2019 life outside F1 from girlfriend to wine and gin<\/a><\/p>\n

Which driver \u2018many people\u2019 in the F1 paddock will join Valtteri Bottas at Cadillac next season?<\/p>\n

Although Bottas appears to be Cadillac\u2019s most likely driver for next season, as Cerasoli explained, the Finn, who retired from 28 races in his F1 career, hasn\u2019t been confirmed yet.<\/p>\n

Sauber instead went with impressive rookie Gabriel Bortoleto over Bottas this season, a decision that is being vindicated with his recent performances.<\/p>\n

\u2018Many people\u2019 in F1 think Bottas will be joined by Sergio Perez at Cadillac in 2026<\/a>, with the two experienced drivers capable of giving Lowdon\u2019s team the knowledge any new team needs to hit the ground running.<\/p>\n\nGrand Prix starts<\/td>\n246<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nPole positions<\/td>\n20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nPodiums<\/td>\n67<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nWins<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nFastest laps<\/td>\n19<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nPoints<\/td>\n1797<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nBest finish<\/td>\n2nd (2019, 2020)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Valtteri Bottas\u2019 Formula 1 career<\/p>\n

Toto Wolff has backed Bottas to be on the grid soon<\/a> and won\u2019t block his attempts to leave Mercedes for a permanent seat elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old has a fantastic record in Formula 1, but unlike Perez, who has seen his stock rise given the struggles of Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull, Sauber have improved since Bottas\u2019 exit.<\/p>\n

That might be the only thing in the back of Cadillac bosses\u2019 minds when considering whether to commit to the 10-time F1 race winner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Formula 1 driver market hasn\u2019t burst into life in the same way as last season, when it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[5621,4199,707,101951,4200,79,16,15,54511],"class_list":{"0":"post-335915","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-cadillac","9":"tag-f1","10":"tag-formula-1","11":"tag-formula-1-driver-market","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-valtteri-bottas"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115010576517372134","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}