Nov.1 (GMM) Cadillac has confirmed that Valtteri Bottas’ 2027 seat remains up for grabs, with Colton Herta and Frederik Vesti both openly chasing it.
When asked by Sky Deutschland whether both Sergio Perez and Bottas were both settled for next season, team boss Marcin Budkowski pointedly stopped short of confirming the Finn.
“We also have Valtteri under contract,” he said. “There are other drivers on the market.”
Pressed on whether the second seat was therefore still open, Budkowski replied: “In Formula 1, everything is always open, isn’t it?”
Former IndyCar star Herta made clear in Mexico that he wants the drive.
“I hope so, or else I don’t know why I’d be doing this,” said the American.
“Cadillac have shown a lot of faith in me doing these FP1s – they’ve put a lot of resources behind me to get me ready to be in the Formula 1 seat.”
But there is still a complication with his Super Licence.
Budkowski said Herta had now received it, although Herta himself said he had only just learned that his Mexico FP1 may not actually have delivered the final point previously expected because of an error surrounding his IndyCar points calculation.
“As far as I was concerned, going into the weekend, if I did 100km here, I would have 40 points,” he said.
“So I’m not sure what’s changed.”
Another serious candidate is Mercedes reserve Frederik Vesti, who impressed during his FP1 outing in George Russell’s car in Mexico.
“There’s no doubt I’ve got my eyes on that seat and it would be such a privilege to step into it,” Vesti said.
The Dane is already closely connected to Cadillac through its IMSA program.
Russell said of Vesti: “I think he deserves his chance.”
“He’s put a lot of effort in working with our team. We all respect him very highly.”