Schumacher touted for Cadillac F1 seat as driver fight begins

Ralf Schumacher has not ruled out the possibility of nephew Mick returning to the F1 grid with Cadillac in 2026.

It was announced on Monday 25th November that a Cadillac-General Motors works entry had been provisionally accepted by F1 for 2026, expanding the grid to 11 teams and 22 drivers.

Valtteri Bottas has already signalled his interest in the project, with links towards an American driver, such as Colton Herta made given GM is the largest car manufacturer in the United States. 

Schumacher is sure that GM will "rely on American talent", with a "known driver" completing the line-up.

"I’m pretty sure they’ll rely on American talent," he told Sky Germany.

"On the other hand, it’s fair to say that the IndyCar level is not the Formula 1 level. We’ve seen that in numerous test drives.

“But that doesn’t mean that there’s some super talent lurking there that no one has found yet."

When pushed if Mick Schumacher would be a contender for the seat, having left Haas at the end of 2022, the six-time grand prix winner did not rule his nephew out.

"I’m assuming that they’ll get a known name to give them a starting point," he added. 

"You’re starting from scratch with everything and that’s going to be damn difficult. That’s why you have to have someone who you know can do it and who you can rely on.

“It will of course take some time, but General Motors is a huge corporation and whatever they tackle will work in the end.

"Then we will have 11 teams and I am looking forward to it because there will be another one and, above all, two places for new, young drivers. We know how difficult that is with 20 cars, now we have ten per cent more at our disposal."