Cadillac F1 has become Formula One's 11th team, and like any new venture, there are bound to be a few teething pains. Actually, "a few" might be understating it. Breaking into the top tier of global motorsport is about as easy as turning up to Wimbledon and expecting to beat Jannik Sinner.
Throw in Formula One's brand-new 2026 regulations and an all-new engine package, and you've got a baptism by fire.
Cadillac made a smart first move by opting to use Ferrari customer power units until its own engine arrives in 2029. That should help flatten the learning curve. The second smart move? Hiring two Formula One veterans in Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez. If you're building a team from scratch, experience isn't a bad place to start.
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But halfway through the season, the whispers around the paddock have already begun.
Are Bottas and Pérez genuinely helping move the team forward, or are they simply collecting a pay cheque while Cadillac learns the ropes? Harsh? Perhaps. Fair? That's Formula One.
Your Teammate Is Your Biggest Rival
In Formula One, your benchmark isn't Max Verstappen or Charles Leclerc. It's the driver in the garage next door.
If your teammate is consistently quicker, questions start being asked. Pressure builds. Drivers either raise their game or start clearing space in the garage for someone else's helmet.
With the 2027 driver market already becoming a favourite topic around the paddock, even an iron-clad contract isn't worth much more than the paper it's printed on. Formula One has shown time and again that contracts can be rewritten if the right driver becomes available.
So, is Cadillac quietly reviewing its options?
You can bet they are. If one Cadillac seat does become available for 2027, the obvious question is who gets the call?
The Colton Herta Gamble
The original plan seemed straightforward. Bring American IndyCar star Colton Herta into Formula 2, let him learn Europe's circuits, complete a few Friday Formula One practice sessions, and collect enough Super Licence points to make the jump.
Unfortunately, motorsport rarely sticks to the script.
Herta's Formula 2 campaign has been disappointing, with only a handful of top-ten finishes and his Super Licence hopes looking increasingly uncertain.
So why is it so difficult for an accomplished IndyCar driver to adapt?
Former IndyCar driver Conor Daly recently offered an interesting explanation. Speaking on a podcast, Daly pointed to tire management as one of the biggest differences between North American racing and the European junior categories.
In Formula 2, understanding the tires is almost an art form. Push too hard and they're gone. Be too cautious and you've already lost the race.
Daly experienced that learning curve himself. During his Formula 3 career in Europe, he went from running near the back to becoming a regular podium contender once he learned how to get the most from the tires.
Sometimes the stopwatch isn't measuring talent, it's measuring experience.
If Not Herta ... Then Who?
Unfortunately for Cadillac, there isn't another young American quite ready to make the leap into Formula One.
One driver whose name continues to surface is Rafael Câmara. As a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, the Brazilian naturally has links to Cadillac through the team's Ferrari power units. It's easy to imagine Ferrari seeing Cadillac as an ideal place for one of its brightest young drivers to gain Formula One experience.
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Then there's Nikola Tsolov.
The Red Bull junior has been one of the standout performers in Formula 2 this season, piling up victories and firmly establishing himself as one of the hottest prospects outside Formula One.
Whether Red Bull would ever let him slip away is another matter.
The American Hope … Just Not Yet
If Cadillac remains determined to put an American driver in one of its cars, patience may be required.
The best long-term prospect could well be Ugo Ugochukwu. The American, currently a front runner in Formula Three, could be a plum choice for Cadillac in a couple of years, just not quite yet. Perhaps someone should sign him?
Experience or Youth?
For its inaugural year, Bottas and Pérez remain exactly what Cadillac needs: experienced hands helping build a Formula One team from the ground up.
But Formula One is brutally competitive.
Sentiment lasts about as long as a set of soft tyres. If Cadillac believes a younger driver can accelerate the team's progress in 2027, don't expect anything to stand in the way. Every team is constantly evaluating its options - all of its options. Patience is rarely in its vocabulary.