Mercedes FP1-driver Frederik Vesti confirms talks with Cadillac for F1 seat in 2026

Frederik Vesti has once again been able to show himself on the track. The talented driver of Mercedes had a good free practice session for the team and hopes to attract the attention of F1 teams for a seat in 2026.

After the first free practice session, an upbeat Frederik Vesti walked towards the media. Due to the session coinciding with the press conference for team bosses, there wasn't much attention for him. However, his joy after the W16 session was undiminished.

'Yes, I am very pleased with this session. Once everyone had completed the medium running I was P5 and I think that's a good position. I felt like I got going with the car. I had a few issues on the hard tyre. We had almost no grip with these really high temperatures. It's quite tricky. But on the medium I felt I achieved a good lap and was able to give some good feedback as well to the team.'

'Obviously with a personal view it would have been great to be on the soft and see what I could have done like everyone else. But I will take it with a smile and I really enjoyed it. Also the long run at the end, trying to work with the car, understand which direction the tyres are going. We did get some data to look at for the rest of the weekend.'

What Vesti has learned from FP1 in Bahrain

Vesti has already driven many kilometers in the simulator for the team, but not yet this season in reality. When asked by GPblog, Vesti said: 'That is an interesting question because I have of course driven a thousand hours in the simulator in this car, but much less in reality.'

'However, I think how I performed today shows that the simulator is very good. For sure there are things still to improve. I have a long list now that I need to go through on how we can improve the simulator. There is a lot of learning from today that I can take to the team in Brackley and we can improve on our simulator for sure.'

There are also points that Vesti himself wants to work on. 'For sure the focus is to get up to speed quickly. It's really about judging the grip and the push levels because it's so easy to make a mistake either too much or too low. So just getting on it and getting a good lap time in quickly is quite important. I was working on that.'

Vesti missed out on a seat in Formula 1 for two consecutive seasons. The Dane finished second in the 2023 Formula 2 championship, but like champion Theo Pourchaire, he did not secure a seat in Formula 1. Since then, Vesti has been active as a reserve driver for Mercedes, but he has not given up on F1.

Frederik Vesti in action during FP1 in Bahrain

Is Frederik Vesti in discussions with Cadillac

'We are working hard on that. A FP1 so early in the season means a lot to me. If you do it in Abu Dhabi, all contracts are already signed and there are no seats available. So to race here in Bahrain, in April, is really useful for me and my management.'

Vesti is one of the names linked to the Cadillac that will debut in the sport in 2026. When asked about it, Vesti said: 'We are working hard on all possibilities.' In a follow-up question about whether there are indeed discussions with Cadillac, the Dane said: 'We're talking to a few teams and we're working hard on trying to find the seats.'

Vesti is part of the Mercedes Junior Program led by Gwen Lagrue. In Bahrain, GPblog spoke exclusively with Lagrue about the Mercedes training program that had two of its own talents in the Mercedes Formula 1 team in 2025. That interview will be available soon on GPblog, so stay tuned to the website.

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