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Cadillac F1 boss refuses to confirm Bottas and Perez 2027 contracts as rival drivers make contact

Published

18 mins ago

October 25, 2026

Oscar Lopez-FonsecaCamilo S. Baquero Daniel VerduEL PAIS

cadillac-f1-boss-refuses-to-confirm-bottas-and-perez-2027-contracts-as-rival-drivers-make-contact

Cadillac have hinted that their drivers for the 2027 season are not quite decided yet as rivals seek to grab an F1 seat.

For the brand new American team’s first season in the sport, the experienced duo of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were chosen as the driver pairing to take them into the campaign.

It was thought that both drivers signed multi-deals, meaning they would at least race for Cadillac in the 2027 season too.

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The 2026 season has been a tough one though for Cadillac, who brutally axed team boss Graeme Lowdon in August, replacing him with Marcin Budkowski as they still aim to score their first point.

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Esteban Ocon looking for F1 drive

Curiously, this has thrown Cadillac’s 2027 lineup into doubt, especially with Esteban Ocon on his way out of the Haas team at the end of the season.

This has linked the Frenchman to a Cadillac drive given he worked with Budkowski for a year at Renault (now Alpine) in 2020.

Ocon only has one other route back into F1 aside from Cadillac and that is at Racing Bulls where he is not under consideration.

Commenting on the Ocon speculation, Budkowski told a press conference on Friday: “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. My marketing and communications department would kill me if I did that.

Esteban Ocon still wants an F1 drive for the 2027 season

Cadillac not certain on 2027 F1 drivers

Asked to clarify Perez and Bottas’s contracts for 2027, he added: “Again, 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.

“It’s something which will be done by official releases from the team when the time is right.”

Although Bottas has achieved Cadillac’s best result with a 13th place finish at the second race of the season in China, Perez has finished above the Finn at every other race this season where they have both finished.

By this metric, Perez has impressed and Budkowski admits he has been a crucial to the team, saying: For a driver like Checo who 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.

Marcin Budkowski is weighing up his 2027 driver options for Cadillac

Perez pushing Cadillac hard

“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. 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, he’s a very good combination.”

I’ve been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

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Lewis Hamilton delivers strong statement as Charles Leclerc gives brutal Ferrari verdict

Published

2 days ago

October 24, 2026

Sara Castro GarciaDavid Exposito

lewis-hamilton-delivers-strong-statement-as-charles-leclerc-gives-brutal-ferrari-verdict

Lewis Hamilton has delivered a strong message on ‘peace’ at the US Grand Prix this week, calling to ‘free Congo, free Sudan, free Syria, free Palestine’.

The comments were made as part of a larger answer to a question about Rwanda being awarded a grand prix from 2030 onward, which will be the first race to be held in Africa since 1993.

Charles Leclerc says Ferrari ‘not at the level’ of rivals in brutal verdict on 2026 struggles

Charles Leclerc has made a damning admission on Ferrari and their current standing in the sport, admitting the team’s rivals have ‘something we don’t’.

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It has been a mixed season for Ferrari so far, who, heading into the second half of the season, looked to be in contention for the drivers’ championship with Lewis Hamilton.

US Grand Prix Friday practice times and positions from COTA

Ferrari star Charles Leclerc continued to show his strength ahead of the United States Grand Prix, topping FP2 at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on Friday afternoon.

It was the second time that Leclerc had topped the timesheets in Austin this weekend, having also set the pace in FP1 earlier in the day. On that occasion he had edged Max Verstappen, but in FP2, it was Kimi Antonelli in pursuit in second, just 0.042 seconds behind.

Toto Wolff’s son walks away unhurt after suffering big karting crash

Toto Wolff’s young son Jack was involved in a big crash while karting on the weekend of the United States Grand Prix.

The Mercedes boss is in Austin this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas for the United States Grand Prix, with his Kimi Antonelli having the potential to become the youngest F1 world champion in history if everything goes his way.

F1 team rejected TWICE by Otmar Szafnauer for team principal job

Former Alpine and Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer has revealed that he was offered the chance to take up the same role with Cadillac’s new F1 team.

The Romanian-American engineer was well regarded at Aston, working with the organisation for a dozen years through its Force India and Racing Point eras, before leaving for Alpine before the 2022 season.

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Christian Horner confirms recent Red Bull talks

Published

3 days ago

October 22, 2026

Laura Cano

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Former Red Bull boss Christian Horner has revealed he received a call from the company’s CEO, Oliver Mintzlaff, after Max Verstappen’s victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia earlier this month, as well as from other shareholders.

The win was Verstappen and Red Bull’s first of the season, and it was a very significant one for the team.

2026 is the first season that Red Bull have competed in F1 with their own power unit, and the Bahrain GP victory marked their first win as a power unit manufacturer on just their 16th attempt.

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Having left the team in mid-2025, Horner has not been around for some time now, but he was one of the key personnel involved in Red Bull’s ambitious powertrains project, which was launched under his leadership in 2021.

When Verstappen took the chequered flag, that was a fact not forgotten by Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle: “Christian Horner got a very good group of people together to start the Red Bull Powertrains project. That’s a hugely impressive victory for the team – power unit and chassis – from Milton Keynes.”

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Christian Horner reveals talks with Red Bull CEO

At the time, Horner took to his social media to congratulate the team on their landmark victory, but it turns out the former Red Bull boss has also been on the receiving end of some positive messaging himself.

Speaking at the Autosport Business Exchange conference in New York, Horner revealed that he had held talks with some of Red Bull’s shareholders who reached out to thank him after the victory, as well as a call with CEO MIntzlaff.

“It was an appreciated gesture, seeing that engine and knowing what went into it, you know, the sweat and tears along the way,” Horner explained, via motorsport.com.

“For all the men and women involved, it was an incredible, incredible achievement. And their 16th attempt to win a grand prix, which is very hard at the best of times.

“I was very grateful to both the shareholders who reached out and [Red Bull CEO] Oliver Mintzlaff, who reached out to thank me as well. It was quite a different call than I had from him 15 months earlier.”

Red Bull Powertrains ‘best’ in F1

Red Bull’s first victory as a power unit manufacturer was quickly followed up by their second at the Singapore Grand Prix last time out, where Max Verstappen was once again on the top step come the podium celebrations.

With upgrades to the car, perhaps the full potential of the power unit is finally being realised, with the FIA having deemed Red Bull to have the best internal combustion engine (ICE) in the sport in their first two ADUO rulings earlier this season.

As the benchmark in the sport, it does mean that no upgrades to their power unit are on the horizon, but for now, they may not need them.

FIA ADUO Analysis
Engine	Teams	Upgrades
Red Bull Powertrains	Red Bull, Racing Bulls	Benchmark
Mercedes	McLaren, Williams, Mercedes, Alpine	One Upgrade
Ferrari	Haas, Cadillac, Ferrari	Two Upgrades
Audi	Audi	Two Upgrades
Honda	Aston Martin	Two Upgrades

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Daniel Ricciardo sparks intrigue with surprise US Grand Prix tease

Published

5 days ago

October 21, 2026

Alfonso Gonzalez Jerez

daniel-ricciardo-sparks-intrigue-with-surprise-us-grand-prix-tease

Daniel Ricciardo used to rank the US Grand Prix among his favourites on the calendar and, while he’s not on the grid anymore, he’s still making the most of the circus being in town.

The popular Australian F1 driver turned Ford ambassador was out in Arizona over the weekend for the third Raptor Rally, where Ford Raptor owners came from far and wide to congregate in Lake Havasu.

With that event all wrapped up, Ricciardo and co. packed up and hit the road for a road trip over to Austin, Texas to jump in with the USGP festivities.

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Probably a fairly short hop, right? Not so much. Lake Havasu to Austin will actually put something like 1,200 miles on your odometer – in other words, nearly five times the distance between the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and the Singapore Grand Prix, which Valtteri Bottas cycled earlier this month.

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Ricciardo ‘can’t wait’ for Austin road trip

Ricciardo’s lifestyle brand Enchante posted a video of the Aussie climbing into his Ford truck after the weekend’s event, captioned: “Raptor’s packed. First stop, the Nellie E Saloon. The long road to Austin starts now.”

The Enchante founder wrote in a note: “Last night we kicked things off in Lake Havasu at the Ford Raptor Rally, and in a couple of days we’re taking the long way to Austin. And I mean the lonnnng way. Desert, backroads, swimming holes, all of it. Not gonna lie, I can’t wait.”

Enchante and Ford Racing are hosting a pop-up event in Austin over the course of the race weekend, but it’s unclear whether or not the former Red Bull and McLaren driver will attend the track itself.

He and his company were in attendance in Austin last year but, just a year after he was pushed out of the door and his racing career ended, he chose not to actually rock up at COTA at any point.