According to the former English driver, despite the ambitions and promises, there is already a designated underdog for the 2026 F1 season.
Cadillac’s F1 debut may be tougher than expected
The declared goal of Cadillac is to compete as quickly as possible with other, far more experienced, mid-field teams. The Cadillac F1 team has been preparing for this challenge for some time, which is why the management of General Motors has entrusted two mature and highly experienced drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, with the task of accelerating the team’s growth. According to the U.S. team’s management, this is the best way to fight for points from the very start of their debut season in Formula 1. However, according to former F1 driver Johnny Herbert, this goal may be overly ambitious.
Johnny Herbert’s opinion
For the 61-year-old Englishman, interviewed by JeffBet, the American team is more likely to take on the role of the backmarker in the top class of motorsport. “I think Cadillac will face an enormous challenge in their F1 debut. The experience of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez will certainly help—they are a bit older, but that doesn’t matter as long as they have the right motivation. The best example of this is Fernando Alonso. That said, I think Cadillac will finish last, because they are a brand-new team. In today’s world, with all the technology and factory resources that other teams have, they will have to start from scratch and find their own path.”
Meanwhile, General Motors has already beaten their competitors to the punch in at least one area: revealing something to the public during this period of high anticipation among fans. On the afternoon of Tuesday, January 13, Cadillac unveiled their provisional livery, an all-black carbon-style design, which Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez will race during the historic F1 debut at the Barcelona shakedown tests, scheduled from January 26 to 30. “Current Formula 1 teams,” Herbert adds, “are already well-established operations that know exactly what they are doing. That’s why I think Cadillac will be the most disappointing team. Even Alpine needs to improve and cannot afford to disappoint as they did last season. It will be necessary to show what they are capable of, especially with new challengers like Cadillac and Audi entering the F1 paddock.”
As Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas prepare to lead the American charge, the pressure of expectations versus the reality of a ground-up project remains the central theme. While the veteran duo brings stability, the technical mountain they have to climb might prove even steeper than Herbert predicts. Whether Cadillac can defy the odds and leapfrog the established order will be one of the most watched storylines of the 2026 season.
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