Guenther Steiner theorises why Alex Palou isn’t on Cadillac F1’s radar

Guenther Steiner may no longer serve as the team principal of the Haas F1 outfit, but he knows a thing or two about what it takes to get a new team off the ground.

And that’s exactly why he’s convinced that reigning IndyCar champion and current Indy 500 winner Alex Palou isn’t going to be on the radar of the incoming Cadillac F1 team.

Cadillac F1 not looking at Alex Palou, says Steiner

Cadillac F1 will be entering the pinnacle of open-wheel racing for the 2026 season, and it’ll introduce its power units in 2029. We know plenty of the personnel behind the scenes, and we know that Tommy Hilfiger has signed on as the outfit’s official apparel partner.

But who is going to race for Cadillac F1?

The more time passes, the more names get thrown into the ring: Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, and, recently, Alex Palou.

The Spanish driver is a three-time IndyCar champion, and it looks like his fourth title will be coming at the conclusion of the 2025 season. He just took his first oval win at the iconic Indianapolis 500, and his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Cadillac left the team astounded by his skill.

But former Haas boss Guenther Steiner knows all about the struggles of getting an F1 team off the ground, and he contends that Palou isn’t the right choice.

Back in 2016, Steiner was the man at the helm of Haas F1, an American-based F1 team with global aspirations. While many American fans at the time hoped that an American team would bring an American driver to the international stage, Haas instead chose to sign Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez — two men with years of Formula 1 experience under their belts.

While it may not have been a popular choice with American fans, it was a sensible one for a new team — and Steiner thinks Cadillac would benefit by adopting the same strategy.

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In an interview with RACER, Steiner was asked to talk about his perspective on Alex Palou — particularly as it pertains to his shot at getting a seat with Cadillac F1. And the former Haas boss isn’t convinced that Palou would be the right choice, based on his own experience of getting Haas off the ground back in 2016.

“When you set a new team up, you’ve got so many things to work at,” Steiner told RACER.

“I wouldn’t say problems; it’s just because you’re young, you need to deal with so many things and you don’t have the time for drivers who haven’t been in Formula 1 because you need to find your own way and if you have to guide the driver as well, it normally doesn’t work out.

“So therefore it was very important for me when we started off that we had drivers who drove already in F1 cars to develop the team, because that’s the most important thing that you have to do the first year – you need to develop the team. If you want to develop drivers you have to wait a little bit.

“If you put a driver who has never been in F1 into a team which has never been in F1, you actually don’t do them a favor because it goes against them. How can they perform? Because you’re focusing on developing the team and you cannot focus on them.

“Sometimes then people say, ‘Oh the driver wasn’t good.’ No it wasn’t the driver, it’s just like they didn’t have the right entry into Formula 1 because they worked with a team that… not that they didn’t know what they were doing, that’s too harsh, but they were still developing themselves.

“Experience [helps], because either you’ve got time or you take somebody who has done it – that was always my stance when we started Haas.

“I think if Cadillac comes in, they wouldn’t be doing an American driver who has never been in F1 any favors.”

Steiner has a great point — and it seems as if Cadillac is thinking along the same lines. Palou himself has admitted that all the current speculation about a potential future with the incoming F1 team is “first and foremost” powered by fans — as in, he hasn’t had any contact with Cadillac regarding Formula 1.

Further, he admitted that: “The timing just isn’t right at the moment. Why should I waste three or four years with a team that can’t win?

“That’s not my idea of racing. I want to fight for wins — especially at the Indy 500 — and for championships. That’s the only way I’ll be happy.”

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