Cowboy look and blue: Cadillac and Mercedes run special liveries in Austin
Cadillac will race in a cowboy-inspired design at its first home Grand Prix in Texas, Mercedes in blue. American Colton Herta replaces Sergio Pérez in first practice; Cadillac also brings small upgrades.
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Cadillac contests its first United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend and has unveiled a one-off livery for the occasion. According to Motorsport Week and RacingNews365, the cowboy-inspired design draws on Texas and the American South West and complements the team's black-and-white base scheme. Both MAC-26 cars of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez will carry it. Cadillac has already run several one-off colour schemes in its debut season.
In first practice on Friday (23 October), American driver Colton Herta takes over Pérez's car for 60 minutes. According to Speedweek, Cadillac is also bringing a small upgrade package for the floor and cooling to Austin. Herta described driving the MAC-26 in front of American fans as something very special and said he wants to work through the test programme smoothly and give the team useful set-up data.
Championship leaders Mercedes are changing colours too: Kimi Antonelli's and George Russell's cars will run a blue special livery in Austin, created according to GPblog with design partner MANUFAKTUR. "In Austin, we wear blue", the team wrote on X. Antonelli leads the drivers' standings after 17 races with 340 points, ahead of Russell (238).