Why Cadillac is yet to confirm any F1 drivers

F1's usually engrossing silly season has been far from spectacular this year. As the championship quickly heads towards 2026, there have been noticeably few driver-contract stories emerging from the paddock. Max Verstappen has pledged his loyalty to Red Bull, at least for the first campaign with F1's latest regulations, putting to rest the biggest rumour of recent months. However, who will partner the Dutchman at the Milton Keynes team in 2026 remains unclear. Will it be Yuki Tsunoda, or will the Japanese driver leave? And should the 25-year-old lose his seat at the six-time constructors' champions or seek pastures new of his own volition, is Cadillac a viable option for him? The fledgling American squad is one of the few areas of intrigue in the surprisingly static driver market, but has yet to commit to any of its numerous options. Tsunoda is one of the many names on the long list of drivers available to F1's newest team, but it remains Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez who are the most frequently mentioned candidates for the General Motors-backed outfit. The question, however, is whether Cadillac wants to go for two experienced drivers, or rather combine youth with a known quantity. The latter blend seems to be the more realistic approach at this stage, as it allows the team to keep one eye on the future. Its debut year will undoubtedly be a difficult journey into the unknown for the American squad, and it will likely be competing towards the back of the field. Anything more than qualifying on the last row of the grid may well be considered a great achievement, or perhaps even a miracle, for Cadillac in 2026. Challenges The challenges of the 2026 cars are enormous. Every team in F1 has already been clear on this point, and that is to say nothing of how daunting that task will be for a Cadillac as it embarks on its maiden voyage. Its customer power unit deal with Ferrari is an advantage, as are the external partners it has teamed up with to develop its first car, but it is still very much in a growth phase. The team is still growing by about 5 to 9 employees per week. These are mostly taken away from F1 rivals, but the team members, despite their experience, need time to bed in with a new organisation. The structure of the team has been formed, but as with any large entity, changes continue to take place, as is customary with the early stages of any project of this scale. Because Cadillac was not officially green-lighted by F1 until late in the process (March 2025), there have been delays in some areas. Given the considerable challenges of the 2026 regulations, that has certainly not helped the team in their path toward a successful Formula 1 debut campaign. GM, Cadillac and the TWG group, which make up the team, are extremely motivated to succeed in F1, but the delays incurred are not compensable in F1. You also need time, even as a major brand with serious resources, to get everything right. So, the lost time to getting the official go-ahead has undoubtedly not helped the situation; time cannot be compensated, even with the large budget available to the new team. An associated consequence of the slow entry process is how it has affected the team's naming of drivers. Initially, it indicated the desire to confirm its 2026 driver line-up before the summer break. Later, this was updated to summer break, which is now underway. Therefore, whilst there may be updates in the coming days and weeks, there is unlikely to be clarity imminently. Who are the main candidates? Alongside Perez, Bottas and Tsunoda, the likes of Jak Crawford, Felipe Drugovich, Jack Doohan and even Alex Dunne are being linked to the team, all of whom offer youth. Assuming the team goes for Perez or Bottas at a minimum, that still leaves a nice range of options. Will the team dare to gamble on a rookie, such as Crawford, Drugovich, or Dunne, or will it plump for just a little more security with a driver like Tsunoda or Doohan? Zhou Guanyu had previously also been linked to the team, but the 25-year-old's name is being mentioned less and less. There is no doubt that the good results of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg at Stake are hurting the stock of Zhou and Bottas. Of course, there have been management changes ahead of its transition to Audi, but it is the drivers, in particular, who appear to be the difference makers this year for the Swiss-based F1 team.  Hulkenberg is known as a driver who gives extensive feedback to engineers, the main reason why Ayao Komatsu wanted to keep the German at Haas, and the one-time podium finisher has, in turn, praised Bortoleto's feedback. A small outfit like Stake underlines the importance of not only having the right drivers but also striking the right balance between them. The combination of Hulkenberg and Bortoleto has helped lift the Sauber entry from the foot of the constructors' standings to the seventh place it currently occupies. Verstappen cited earlier this year that he believes Perez has the right ingredients to help a young team like Cadillac, provided the Mexican is motivated. That seems to be the case after Perez was relieved of his duties at Red Bull by Christian Horner, despite the newly departed team principal having handed him a contract extension. That was not the ending to his career that Perez had envisaged, and so the Mexican driver will be hungry to write a new chapter in his F1 adventure. Cadillac will go for at least one experienced driver, but who? And who will race alongside them, another experienced hand, or an injection of youth? With the 2026 season getting closer and closer, the time for Cadillac to bring in its first driver is now. After that, the team would strategically have plenty of time to bring in a second. The question, however, is whether this is the American squad's strategy. Either way, the new campaign is fast approaching, so Cadillac will want to send a signal to its sponsors, and confirming at least one of its two drivers will always do its sponsors and shareholders good.