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Cadillac want an American: This driver puts himself forward as candidate
- Ludo van Denderen
Since the departure of Logan Sargeant from Williams, there has been no American driver in Formula 1. That may change in 2026, as the new Cadillac team makes no secret of their desire to sign Colton Herta. New York-born and raised Max Esterson is also hoping for a chance at Cadillac.
Not so long ago, virtually nobody in the United States was interested in Formula 1. IndyCar and NASCAR; those were the series that attracted a lot of people. As known, the Netflix series Drive to Survive sparked Americans' interest in F1.
Whereas IndyCar and NASCAR were the ultimate goal for American talents in the past, that is slowly changing. "I think 10 years ago or five years ago, almost nobody knew what Formula 1 was in the US," says Formula 2 driver Max Exterson. "Now I would say most people do, or a lot of people do, at least."
"Some are quite into it from Drive to Survive, so that was obviously super helpful for F1. Yeah, more people are getting into it. It's just more common. I don't think it's still not as big as it is in England or Europe, but it's definitely getting there," the driver said during an exclusive interview with GPblog.
Esterson at Cadillac?
Logan Sargeant, in his year-and-a-half at Williams, failed to impress his countrymen. Now the US is waiting for the next American to enter the sport. "That would be nice!", Esterson says about that. "Especially with Cadillac coming in 26, it'd be nice to have an American [in F1]."
There is no talk of a partnership at the moment, but Esterson would love to be that American at Cadillac. "[There is] no direct connection yet, really. Obviously, I need to have a good year this year. Being American is secondary, sort of. Obviously, you need to be strong enough, so we'll see how this year goes. I'm confident it'll be a good year."
Who knows, maybe there will be interest from F1 teams in Esterson if he has a great debut season in Formula 2. Asked if there is already any interest, the driver says: "Not that I know. But I'm sure some are looking."
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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