IndyCar champ shares heartfelt message for Cadillac after official F1 entry announcement

The motorsport world has been encapsulated by the announcement of Cadillac officially joining the F1 grid in 2026, including the IndyCar realm. 2016 IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud congratulated the American motorsport giant on securing the F1 team entry to Cadillac and shared a heartfelt message on his X (formerly Twitter).

After a struggle spanning over three years, the US will be getting its second team on the F1 grid. Haas joined the F1 sphere in 2016 but has a strong technical partnership with Ferrari, which some suggest hinders the team's individuality.

Michael Andretti had laid the foundation of the team getting into the European world. While he has now left Andretti and is enjoying his retirement, the team turned to a fully-supported General Motors effort, which was able to convince the Formula One Management to grant Cadillac to become the 11th team on the grid.

This announcement led people from various racing realms to congratulate Cadillac for getting into the F1 realm. Ex-IndyCar champion Pagenaud was one of them, as he took to his X (formerly Twitter) handle on March 7 and wrote:

"Big big Day and huge congratulation to @cadillacF1 for their official arrival on the @F1 grid in 2026! Congratulations to Cadillac F1 for their official arrival in @F1 in 2026! Great news!"

There are a number of rumors swirling the paddock regarding who will drive for the new F1 team, and Colton Herta has been deemed to be one of the favorites.

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IndyCar star Colton Herta opens up on the possibility of joining the Cadillac F1 team

Colton Herta at the NTT IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey - Source: Getty

Though Colton Herta openly flirted with the idea of joining the racing world in Europe in 2022, his hopes were crushed due to him not having a super license. However, he can get a super license this season by completing 100 km of running in a Grand Prix weekend and is considered to be on the radar of Cadillac.

However, the Andretti driver is not excited by the idea of F1 anymore, as he said in January this year (via Motorsport Week):

"I’ve kind of been dragged around in this talk for, it feels like, half a decade now. I’ve had the carrot in front of me for a while. I’m kind of tired of that being the case, and I just want to drive at this point and focus on IndyCar this year and focus on winning a championship, and if something arises out of that, I’d have to think about it."

“It’s still not a for sure thing. All my friends and family are here in the U.S., and I don’t know anybody where I’m going, so it’s a big decision to make if I have to make that decision."

Herta finished 16th at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix. The 24-year-old had pitstop woes mid-race, which plummeted him down the field, and will be hoping for a better weekend at the next race at Thermal Club on March 23.