The US GP weekend naturally means the spotlight gravitates towards Formula 1’s two American-owned teams. That has led to some awkward questions for Cadillac amid ongoing speculation over its driver line-up for 2027 and beyond.
Both Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas are on “multi-year” contracts, understood to be a so-called one-plus-one arrangement in which the second year is optional, subject to either party fulfilling various conditions. Such has been the disparity in performance between the two drivers that Bottas’s position has been the object of paddock gossip for months.
Recently appointed team principal Marcin Budkowski has already had to do some firefighting on this, as had his predecessor Graeme Lowdon. But a rather peculiar moment in the FIA’s press conference for team representatives on Friday in Austin suggested Cadillac’s plans aren’t as fixed as previously billed.
The catalyst was a soft question from one of the broadcasters on the theme of Perez’s upcoming 300th grand prix start: “How difficult is it to evaluate a driver who’s fighting at the back of the grid, at the same time as the impression is that he’s having a better season than his team-mate? And quickly on drivers, would you be interested in having any conversation with Esteban [Ocon] regarding maybe a reserve role?”
In trying to give a suitably anodyne non-answer, Budkowski began to flounder.
“Look, for a driver like Checo, who, as you said, has a huge amount of experience and a number of races, I can tell you he doesn’t behave or drive like a driver who is anywhere close to retirement,” he said.
“He’s pushing very hard behind the wheel. He’s pushing us very hard also behind the scenes, in the debrief rooms and outside, and regularly texting me and other members of the team to push us to improve. He’s hungry, he’s motivated, and that’s actually really good to see. He does it in his own style.
Marcin Budkowski, Cadillac Team Principal
Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / LAT Images via Getty Images
“We have two drivers: one is more hot and one is probably more cold, if we could say, from there. And they both push the team in their own particular ways, but Checo is, yes, pushing us very hard. And just looking at the way his body language on the grid, when he gets his helmet on and he gets in the car, he’s getting ready for a fight. There’s a lot of fire, there’s a lot of motivation there, so it’s really impressive for a driver of this experience.
“And at the same time, we’re getting his feedback and his input in terms of, as an experienced driver. So yes, it’s a very good combination.
“And sorry, the second question was about Esteban Ocon? Well, look, as a team principal, and I’m sure it’s the same with my colleagues, you’re getting calls and contacts from every driver or driver manager that is on the market. So, there are a number of drivers and managers who have contacted me.
“I’m not going to say who it is or who it isn’t, but pretty much all of them that are on the market have been in touch, as you’d expect. But yes, I think it’s the last place here, as you can imagine, where I would communicate anything on driver line-up.”
Were William Shakespeare present, he would no doubt have put quill to parchment and scratched out a note to the effect that the gentleman doth protest too much. Fortunately for the Cadillac team principal, perhaps, Adrian Newey was in the room and acted as a natural magnet for the majority of further questions.
Autosport understands that Ocon is highly unlikely to go to Cadillac, since he and Perez mixed like oil and water when they last coexisted under the same roof. It’s believed he will probably become Aston Martin’s third driver.
Whether or not Cadillac retain Bottas for 2027, it’s known that the team’s owners wish to have an American driver in a race seat as soon as possible. Lowdon’s surprise replacement this summer is an indication of how General Motors and TWG Motorsports’ expectations appear to be running somewhere ahead of the team’s current progress.
Cadillac ran Colton Herta in FP1 at the Circuit of The Americas, but he is a left-field candidate for any race opportunities since he is one point short of qualifying for a superlicence, owing to the FIA having changed the qualifying rubric. If he has meaningful running in another session this year he will qualify – but his rather patchy Formula 2 campaign this season isn’t a very strong calling card.
“Obviously having an American driver in an American team is a great story,” Budkowski told Sky Sports this weekend. “It needs to be the right time and the right driver. But we're working on that. We're working on that with Colton.
“There are some really exciting American talents coming up through the ranks as well. We've seen Ugo Ugochukwu winning F3. We've got [Sebastian] Wheldon coming through to F3 next year.
“So there's a lot of potential here and we'll look into that obviously.”
Read Also:
When Cadillac will open its F1 engine factory