Valtteri Bottas has admitted there are no guarantees in Formula 1 amid mounting rumours that Cadillac could look to replace him in the team’s driver line-up for F1 2027.
Following a year on the sidelines, Bottas returned to F1 this season alongside Sergio Perez as Cadillac prioritised experience to navigate its maiden campaign in the series.
Valtteri Bottas discusses Cadillac rumours
But while the two have been well-matched over a single lap, Bottas trails Perez 11-4 in the head-to-head in races where both drivers have reached the chequered flag.
That has raised questions about Bottas’ place at the team even though the Finn, along with Perez, signed a multi-year deal.
Cadillac team boss Marcin Budkowski was non-committal when asked in Austin how secure his driver pairing is.
“This is the last place I would comment on driver contracts in general; I think it’s not something that is done in the press,” Budkowski stated last Friday in Austin. “It’s something that will be done by official releases from the team when the time is right.”
Perez is expected to have done enough to retain his drive, leaving Bottas vulnerable to a potential change. Colton Herta, who has completed three FP1 outings with Cadillac this season in his role as the squad’s test driver, is rumoured to be under consideration.
Bottas dismissed the speculation when initially questioned on the situation at the Circuit of the Americas, but 24 hours later post-race, having retired with a power unit problem, conceded that “anything can happen”.
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Asked whether he had been given assurances about next season, Bottas told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media: “Yes, last year when I signed, I know the terms.”
He then added: “I mean, it is Formula 1. You know, if cows could fly… anything can always happen in this sport.
“But for now, they seem happy what they’re getting out of me. So I think that’s still all that matters.”
Bottas admitted that the multitude of teething issues that Cadillac has encountered during its debut F1 campaign has had a bearing on his intra-team battle with Perez.
“I would say it’s impossible to get a read,” he said. “You know, on a year like this with so many issues, and the problem is sometimes we don’t quite understand them.
“So it’s really still a steep learning curve to go, but at least today everything seemed to work okay, and that’s why we had the same pace with Checo.
“But there’s been lots of things in the background that maybe not everyone sees, like the brake management demand of having to deal with that and all these things, but at the same time, like I said, sometimes there’s been some issues that we are struggling in seeing.”
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