Is Valtteri Bottas on his way out at Cadillac? Little backing from the team principal

The signs are mounting that Valtteri Bottas is slowly falling out of favour at Cadillac: at the Circuit of the Americas, it is striking how Cadillac team principal Marcin Budkowski raves about the Mexican Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez, whilst his comments about the Finn Valtteri Bottas sound less enthusiastic. This goes as far as the fact that the 49-year-old Pole is refusing to confirm the Pérez/Bottas driver line-up for 2027. Yet it seemed clear that the American team would carry on with their two experienced drivers.

Speaking in Texas, Budkowski said: “For a driver like Checo, who has a wealth of experience, I can say that he doesn’t behave or drive like a driver who is even remotely close to retirement. He really puts his foot down. He also pushes us very hard behind the scenes in the debriefing rooms and elsewhere, and regularly sends messages to me and other team members to motivate us to perform better.”

“Pérez is hungry, he’s motivated, and that’s really good to see.” “He does it in his own unique way. We have two drivers. One is more fiery, and the other is probably a bit cooler, if I may put it that way. And they’ve both driven the team forward in their own way, but Checo pushes us very hard.”

“Just seeing Pérez’s body language on the starting grid, when he puts on his helmet and climbs into the car, you really get the impression – he’s preparing for a battle. There’s a lot of fire there, there’s a lot of motivation.”

Naturally, following the Frenchman’s departure from Haas, Esteban Ocon’s management knocked on Cadillac’s door. Budkowski remains vague: “As team principal – and I’m sure my colleagues feel the same – you always get calls from every driver or driver’s manager. So there’s a whole host of drivers and managers who’ve contacted me. I’m not going to say who it is, but almost everyone on the market has got in touch – just as you’d expect.”

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“I think this is about the last place I’d be discussing anything about our driver line-up. My marketing and communications department would kill me if I did that! When the time is right, we as a team will make an official announcement.”

Should Ocon join Cadillac, it would reunite two drivers who were once bitter rivals at Force India: him and Pérez.

No one is really standing out as a US alternative to Bottas: IndyCar winner Colton Herta (who drove the Cadillac in the first Friday practice session) disappointed in the 2026 Formula 2 season, and his future remains uncertain. And the young New Yorker Ugo Ugochukwu (19), the 2026 Formula 3 champion, is set to compete in Formula 2 next year. He will also take part in various F1 practice sessions for Cadillac. His GP debut is therefore likely not to happen until 2028.