Three races, two teams – but F1 in the United States is still missing one key component

The sorry sight of Floridian youngster Logan Sargeant trudging away from his ablaze Williams car, last summer at the Dutch Grand Prix, represented his final failed foray in Formula One. Quickly axed by team principal James Vowles, Sargeant lost his F1 seat after 36 races and one point. In doing so, a rare American presence amongst the 20-driver grid was no more.

Since Mario Andretti won the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix – the same year he claimed his sole F1 world championship, America’s only title to this day – no US driver has won a race. In fact, in the 47 years since, only Eddie Cheever in the 1980s has recorded more than one podium. Sargeant’s only point, awarded post-race in Austin in 2023, was America’s first point in the drivers’ standings since Mario’s son, Michael, finished third in Monza in 1994.

A puzzling record, you may think, for a sport which has in the last decade boomed almost unfathomably across the Atlantic. Miami, which debuted in 2022 a year ahead of the Las Vegas night race, hosts its fourth edition this weekend with its typical high-octane offering of sunshine, showbiz and style.

With A-listers expected in their dozens, it will host the biggest Florida party of the weekend. Donald Trump even turned up last year, a so-called “lucky charm” in the McLaren garage ahead of Lando Norris’s first F1 victory. But the track built around the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens will not host an American driver.

It is the striking anomaly of F1’s impressive American boom. And the horizon is not propitious.

In hindsight, Sargeant was handed his chance ahead of time at 22, particularly given his uninspiring Formula 2 results. Of course, many talented single-seater drivers from the States choose a path in IndyCar (more on that later). But the simple facts are that, within the junior pyramid leading to F1, there is a lack of driver talent waiting to take the star-spangled mantle.

A crying shame, one thinks, for Cadillac – the American-led entry, backed by automotive giant General Motors, joining the grid as team No 11 in 2026 and the second American-owned team, alongside Haas.

“We’ll select drivers on merit,” said Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon, as he prepares his outfit for a spot in the paddock next year.

Andretti Snr., an adviser for the new team, initially insisted last year that one of the two driver spots at Cadillac would be taken by an American. In recent months, he has rowed back on that affirmation, now saying “things could change.” He added: “We are keeping our options open.”

So, the most pertinent Cadillac-related question remains: will one of the two driver spots be taken by an American?

“Having a driver on merit doesn’t mean you can’t have an American passport as well,” Lowdon replied. “I think the fans would love to see an American driver in an American team.

“There’s nothing stopping that from happening, but we’ve just got to go ahead and select on merit and build a team, because there are a few very experienced drivers available.”

At this stage, the experienced and seatless duo of Sergio Perez (unattached) and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes reserve) are the favourites. Ex-Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu (Ferrari reserve) is also being heavily linked, given the extra revenue streams available for Cadillac in picking a Chinese driver and the more obvious fact that Lowdon is Zhou’s manager.

Then, we move to the American options. The most exciting is multiple Indy Car race winner Colton Herta, who came close to joining Racing Bulls (then AlphaTauri) in 2023 before issues with accruing enough FIA super-licence points scuppered his chances. A similar problem may arise this year; Herta needs to finish fourth in IndyCar to reach the 40-point threshold. He currently lies in seventh after three rounds.

But of more interest is Herta’s attitude towards a spot in F1. Linked for so long with the peak of single-seater motorsport, the 25-year-old from California seems reluctant to accept the challenge, even if it was offered to him.

“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,” he said, earlier this year.

“I’m kind of tired of that being the case… it’s still not a ‘for-sure’ thing. All my friends and family are here in the US and I don’t know anybody where I’m [potentially] going, so it’s a big decision to make, if I have to make that decision.”

Elsewhere, only two American drivers are plying their trade in F2. Jak Crawford is a prospect at 19 and in his third F2 season already. He finished fifth last year and has won twice, but seems short of the table-topping pace to catch the eye of observers in F1. Max Esterson, 22, is currently last in the standings.

A step down, McLaren junior driver Ugo Ugochukwu is highly rated and is making his Formula 3 debut this year at 18. But on the whole, the depth of up-and-coming American drivers is poor. In fact, it is notable that the IndyCar champion in the last two years was Spain’s Alex Palou, who has tested for McLaren previously. Herta finished second to Palou last year.

It represents a somewhat pessimistic outlook for the prospect of another American driver on the grid. Previous to Sargeant – who has not raced since his F1 axe last August – Scott Speed was the only American driver in nearly 30 years to race more than five times in F1.

Hopefully, for a sport fixated on building their already terrific offering stateside, the wait is not so long this time. Disappointingly, but understandably given the options on offer, it is a trend Cadillac are not likely to eradicate next year.