There are few brands more quintessentially American than Cadillac, the luxury flagship of General Motors, and a favorite of Hollywood for decades. Cadillac has shone on the silver screen in classics like Goodfellas and The Godfather, and even had films named after it. Think of Pink Cadillac with Clint Eastwood and Cadillac Man with Robin Williams. If you drove a Cadillac, you were someone of note…
Next year, Cadillac will make its debut on the Formula 1 grid. With a Ferrari engine under the livery and a discarded Finn (Valtteri Bottas) and a frustrated Mexican (Sergio Pérez) behind the wheel. The American Dream? It’s dead and buried, despite (or thanks to) Donald Trump and his protectionist measures.
There’s no doubt that it’s healthy for Formula 1 to have an eleventh team on the grid, but an American newcomer should ideally have a young talent, preferably an American, in the lineup. Behind Bottas and Pérez, IndyCar driver Colton Herta (25) will be sitting on the bench. He’s putting his IndyCar career on hold and will likely warm up in Formula 2, at least a nice consolation.
What’s striking about Cadillac’s chosen lineup is that they initially had a completely different philosophy. CEO Dan Towriss (pictured left) recently admitted in an interview that they wanted to secure a rising talent alongside an experienced driver – Bottas. However, when Pérez came calling, all principles were thrown overboard. “He was fantastic,” Towriss said about that conversation.
Reading that brief sentence, my thoughts drifted back to a conversation I had with Sergio Pérez in 2013, when he briefly raced for McLaren. It was a short interview and – as far as I can recall – the only interview I ever ended on my own initiative. It was a phase in his career when Pérez thought the world was already at his feet and he had little interest in interviews. With a bored, arrogant attitude, he sat at the table, paying more attention to his phone than his conversation partner. It was far from fantastic, and after about ten minutes, I waved the white flag.
The café au lait at Cadillac tasted much better to Sergio Pérez. The personal stakes were also much higher, of course. With his enormous enthusiasm and sporting ambitions, Pérez, according to Towriss, won over the entire Cadillac management team in one fell swoop. Not a young talent in the second car, but a Mexican bent on revenge, whose father still believes he could have been a four-time world champion if Checo hadn’t been so scandalously treated at Red Bull. Yeah, right!
If a cup of coffee indeed sufficed to blow away Cadillac’s leadership, it’s quite a feat by Pérez. Respect! However, I have a strong suspicion that the tens of millions in sponsorship income that Pérez likely brings with him, as was the case during his Red Bull period, also played a role. Cadillac can’t be blamed. The brand is still quintessentially American. Money talks, bullshit walks! In other words, words without money mean nothing. Especially not in Formula 1.
By the way, Cadillac’s Formula 1 debut would make a great scenario for a Hollywood movie. Working title: Cadillac Bullshit. With perhaps Checo Pérez in the lead role…
