Clouds gather over Bottas as Towriss fuels speculation: Valtteri was off the pace in a few races

The US race weekend gave Cadillac the ideal opportunity to revive speculation about Valtteri Bottas’s future. Regardless of how dreadful a year Colton Herta has had in Formula 2, he has once again emerged as a serious candidate for a Formula 1 seat. Team CEO Dan Towriss has added further fuel to the speculation with his latest comments.

When similar talk surfaced in the spring, Bottas was able to fend it off. The Finnish driver told the media at the time that he had a valid contract, and his comments were backed up by then-team principal Graeme Lowdon. Valtteri managed to improve his performances, and the speculation died down for several months.

Now, however, it has returned with even greater intensity than in the spring. Bottas’s biggest problem is that Lowdon’s departure has cost him his main ally. Budkowski refused to offer him any guarantees during the weekend in Austin, and CEO Dan Towriss only fuelled speculation that had already been circulating for several days.

British outlet The Race reported as early as Saturday that Bottas’s position was under serious threat. “The Race understands the team hasn’t made a final decision on who will drive for it next year,” the respected outlet wrote.

It is clear that Pérez has no reason to worry. Although the qualifying head-to-head is relatively close, albeit in the Mexican’s favour, Valtteri has spent only 18 per cent of race laps ahead of his team-mate, according to The Race .

“That means his seat is in doubt for 2027, with 26-year-old Herta among those who could replace him,” wrote The Race.

Cadillac may wait until Herta has a superlicence before appointing him. Red Bull unsuccessfully tried to secure one for him several years ago. According to media calculations, Colton is currently two points short, while team principal Marcin Budkowski says he needs only one. That means just one or two free practice appearances would be enough to get him over the line.

Towriss highlights Bottas’s poor performances

When a CEO speaks out in situations like these, it is usually to support their driver. In this case, however, Dan Towriss merely reinforced Marcin Budkowski’s comments and fuelled further speculation. He stressed, though, that a decision was not imminent and Cadillac had time.

“I think over the next few weeks we’ll be able to talk more about what we’re doing on drivers. Obviously we’ve got Checo and Valtteri on contract, we love what they’re doing. Obviously Valtteri has had a few races where he’s been off the race pace, so we’re talking about that, and we’ll see what happens,” Towriss told RACER.

Asked directly whether Herta had a chance – despite his disappointing Formula 2 results – the team’s CEO replied: “Yeah, there’s always a chance.”

Is Tsunoda also in contention?

According to The Race, however, Herta is not the only candidate for Bottas’s seat, although he is the favourite. Other drivers without a seat have also put themselves forward. Esteban Ocon is said to have called Budkowski, but his difficult past and relationships with team-mates are catching up with him. Burning bridges on his way out of every team is clearly making life harder for the Frenchman – in this case, his clashes with Sergio Pérez during their time together at Force India and Racing Point have come back to haunt him.

“The Race understands he won’t be joining Cadillac in a race or reserve driver role. Instead, he’s likely to take a reserve driver role at a different team such as Aston Martin,” the British outlet wrote.

That is certainly not the case for fan favourite Yuki Tsunoda, however. “Tsunoda’s representatives have been contacting Cadillac over a 2027 opportunity and he is among the contenders,” wrote The Race.

“Cadillac isn’t in a rush to make a final decision, as none of the candidates have race seat options elsewhere,” the British outlet added.

The Race concluded by noting that Bottas has a long-term contract with Cadillac. It is not watertight, however. If the team is willing to pay him compensation, it can part ways with him.