Cadillac would sign IndyCar star Colton Herta over former F1 world champion, says Juan Pablo Montoya
By Simon Head
The news of General Motors' entry into Formula 1 in 2026 via their Cadillac brand has generated plenty of excitement about an American team with potentially an American driver on the grid next season.
The last American driver to turn a wheel in F1 was Logan Sargeant, but he struggled to make an impact at Williams before eventually being let go by the team.
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But with Cadillac set to join the grid in 2026, hopes are high that an American driver would get a seat – even ahead of an established former F1 world champion.
"Would Fernando Alonso want to go to GM?" Montoya wondered aloud.
"Everybody's talking about Colton Herta going to GM. We'll see how much it's driven from America, and how much is driven from Europe.
"If the team is driven from Europe, there's no Herta in the picture. If the decisions on the driver are fully controlled by America, I think Herta has a good shot."
While the thought of Herta getting a shot in F1 is one that would excite many American motorsport fans, Montoya suggested that enthusiasm might not necessarily be shared by Herta himself, given the career risks involved.
"In the position that Colton is nowadays, I wouldn't consider it fun," Montoya admitted.
"There's so much to lose for him by going to F1.
"He's established in IndyCar where he’s one of the biggest stars. And if he leaves and somebody younger takes that seat and does a really good job, then there's no seat for Herta if it didn’t work out in F1. Is it a risk worth taking?"
As for Alonso, Montoya admitted he wasn't sure what the Spanish former world champion would do once he does depart Aston Martin.
"I don’t know what Fernando Alonso would do," he said.
"He's very passionate about racing. You see him karting all the time. Would he go back to endurance racing again?"
Montoya also weighed in on the growing driver unrest regarding FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem, with some rumors suggesting that someone like Susie Wolff could potentially offer an alternative option.
Wolff's husband, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said he wasn't aware of his wife looking to make a run at the FIA presidency.
"Not that I know of," he said.
"Susie is an entrepreneur with heart. She built the F1 Academy up to speed in a very short time and isn't interested in working for the FIA.
"Someone started this rumor to cause a stir."
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko suggested that the prospect of Wolff taking up the FIA presidency would be "impossible." And it seems that Montoya concurs, due to the amount of international backing Ben Sulayem already holds.
"If you ask the UK, I'm sure they're going to say, we're going to vote for Susie Wolff," he said.
"But if you ask 80 percent of South America or Africa, they're going to vote for Mohamed Ben Sulayem."
Montoya said that the ongoing row between the drivers and the FIA over the governing body of motorsport's ban on swearing is due in large part to the FIA not understanding the intensity of feeling the drivers go through.
But he also said that, rather than look to temper the drivers' outbursts, the onus should be put on the broadcasters to not air those communications that would cause offense.
"I understand what he is trying to do. But the swearing and the passion and the screaming are what the fans love," he said.
"It's such a big part of the sport, but they say they don't want it or mustn’t have it.
But they can control that. If you don't want it, why are you putting it on air? You have a choice of the message not being aired.
"You have 20 drivers talking and you pick the wildest and most outrageous message to play because it's the best for content.
"You want the best content, but at the same time you want them to be angels and not emotional.
"You want drivers to go side by side to a corner, bang wheels and maybe one of those two guys ends up in the tyres and the FIA expects him to say on the radio,’ My gosh that was ruthless!’"
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