Cadillac F1 chief speculates on Valtteri Bottas future as Colton Herta option opens up

Cadillac chief Dan Towriss has revealed that Valtteri Bottas could yet retain his seat for 2027, despite recent doubts over his future and American star Colton Herta set to become F1-eligible.

Bottas reportedly signed a multi-year deal to return to the sport with the new American outfit in 2026, and because of that, it had been assumed he would be with them next year. However, comments from team principal Marcin Budkowski ahead of the US Grand Prix cast doubt.

"This is the last place I would comment on driver contracts, and in general, I think it’s not something that is done in the press," Budkowski said when asked to confirm if Perez and Bottas would be with the team next year. "It’s something which will be done by official releases from the team when the time is right."

Of course, days later, Perez signed a new long-term deal, but there are still question marks hanging over his team-mate, particularly with Cadillac test driver and California native Herta set to gain his FIA Super License with another FP1 appearance at this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix.

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Dan Towriss on Valtteri Bottas' Cadillac future

Herta is not the only contender. Mercedes reserve driver Fred Vesti, who drives for Cadillac in IMSA, declared his interest in the seat in Mexico, and other reports via The Race claim that Yuki Tsunoda is also in the mix to line up alongside Perez next season.

However, Bottas remains very much in contention too, according to Towriss, CEO of TWG Global, the company which owns Cadillac's F1 outfit.

“Absolutely [he can keep his seat],” said Towriss speaking about Bottas' chances for 2027, via Racer. “We absolutely love Valtteri, and he’s done everything we’ve asked of him. And I’m really even seeing him kind of step up and rise to the challenge. I like to see, as we’re learning drivers, what is he like under pressure? And so, as we’re even talking about this, this obviously puts more pressure on the driver.

"Watching Valtteri respond to it, he’s an absolute pro. I mean, he’s just, he’s getting after it, and so I want to see what he does … I mean, he’s a champ. He’s going to fight, fight, fight, and so [we] love everything that he does as well. And so we’re not in a hurry to make any decision here. We're just going to focus on racing.”

Towriss on Herta's F1 chances

If Bottas were to depart, putting an American driver in an American team would be incredibly tempting, but Herta is having a poor season in F2 after making the switch from IndyCar, currently sitting 19th in the championship ahead of the final two rounds of the season.

Towriss, though, says that Herta has been impressive in F1 machinery and is therefore under consideration.

“We all know F2 is not the barometer for Formula 1. It’s a great series, but that car doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about Formula 1,” Towriss added.

“Even coming off of a weekend in Madrid where he had a pretty terrible weekend, it was shortly after that he did a TPC [testing of previous cars] run, and it was very strong.

“He did 500 kilometres in the car. His FP1s have been strong, and so we’re seeing somebody who's learning and building and making the case for a seat possibly for next year.”

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Written by

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson - F1 Editor

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