FIA Superlicence Rule Blocks Cadillac From Dropping Bottas For Reserve Driver Herta

Cadillac find themselves in a difficult position after five rounds of the 2026 Formula 1 season, with both of their drivers failing to score a single championship point.
The team fields two highly experienced racers in Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, yet neither has been able to get the new outfit off the mark in the standings.
The intra-team battle between the two drivers has provided one of the more compelling storylines of the early season, despite the team’s wider struggles on track.
Perez, the 36-year-old former Red Bull racer, currently leads 10-time grand prix winner Bottas in both qualifying and race head-to-head results across the five events so far.
However, Bottas holds the edge over Perez in the drivers’ championship, courtesy of his 13th-place finish in China being the only top-15 result either driver has managed.
Both drivers are contracted to Cadillac through to the end of the 2027 season, but rumours emerged last week that the team were considering replacing Bottas with reserve driver Colton Herta.
There is a desire within the Cadillac team to place an American driver on the F1 grid, given the team’s identity as an American car brand with a rich history in the United States.
Herta, who is 26 years old, left IndyCar at the end of last season and moved into F2 in pursuit of the superlicence points needed to eventually compete in Formula 1.
The FIA requires any driver competing in an F1 season to have accumulated 40 superlicence points across a three-year period, earned through results in various FIA-owned series.
In 2026, F2 championship placings down to eighth position provide sufficient points for a driver to qualify for an F1 superlicence and be eligible to race.
Herta has competed in three rounds of the F2 season to date and has collected just 16 points, leaving him 12th in the overall standings.
Should Herta finish inside the top eight in the F2 championship, Cadillac would have a genuine conversation to consider regarding his promotion to the race seat.
If he fails to achieve that target, however, Herta would not be eligible for an F1 drive until 2028 at the earliest, effectively shielding Bottas from any immediate threat to his seat.
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