Valtteri Bottas shares what he's heard from Cadillac regarding F1 future

Valtteri Bottas says that, according to his latest information, Cadillac is not looking to make a driver change for 2027. 

The Finn's place on the grid for 2027 has been called into question since the United States GP, when team boss Marcin Budkowski did confirm that either Bottas or Sergio Perez would definitely be with the squad for its second season.

Perez was then confirmed in Mexico ahead of his home race, but Bottas's seat remains potentially open, with reserve driver Colton Herta finally achieving his superlicence in Sao Paulo GP FP1 as the team continues to evaluate the American for a potential promotion to grand prix racing now that he is legally able to race in F1.

Bottas has insisted that he has a contract for 2027 with Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss set to be a key figure in the discussions - with the American firing former team principal Graeme Lowdon in the summer break. 

Following the news of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad being kept on for 2027 by Racing Bulls, it means there are just two seats left to be confirmed for next season, these being the second Cadillac seat currently occupied by Bottas and the second Haas seat, with talks over a new deal for Oliver Bearman dragging on. 

However, from his talks with Towriss, Bottas has said he has no indication that a change is in the offing in the former.

"We've been in touch regularly," Bottas told media, including RacingNews365, of his conversations with Towriss, ahead of the recent Sao Paulo GP. 

"The last time I spoke with him was after the race in Mexico, and the latest message I've got is that they're not looking to change anything.

"But it still needs to be confirmed by the board."

When then asked about how he filters out the noise around his future, Bottas replied that it was "part" of F1.

"Well, I try not to let it get to me, because I know how the sport is, and there is always going to be noise," he said.

"So I just try to filter it and not to look at it, but it is part of the sport that has always been there, and always will."

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'The team know what they can get'

Bottas does hold Cadillac's best result of the season to date, a 13th-place finish in the second race of the season in China, but he has not finished higher than 16th since.

He has finished nine times since, but has an equal result of eight DNFs and one DNS, and feels that he has not had the equipment to show what he is truly capable of. 

"The team know what they can get out of me if everything works well, and I think they know that if they can give me a car, then I can deliver," he said.

"But so far, they haven't really delivered any car with which I can do much, so that's where we are, and honestly, that was always what I expected here because I came to improve things for the future, for problem-solving.

"It is definitely not a mindset of fighting for my seat. That's not been in my head at all this year. 

"It's been all about trying to get things better, and hopefully, have a much stronger car next year."

Cadillac has suffered from reliability concerns throughout the year, with overheating brakes in the summer months, before heat from the brakes weakened the wishbone in the front-left suspension of Bottas's MAC-26 under braking for Turn 1 in Mexico. 

In Sao Paulo, Bottas recorded a Did Not Start following a machined wheelnut on the right-rear, meaning the intermediate tyre he had for the laps to the grid could not be removed ahead of the start of the race.

The suspension failure in Mexico even left Bottas sporting a bruise, but he feels that the reliability concerns show the team has "bigger problems" than its driver pairing to solve.

"It is never nice to DNF, and there have been too many of those this year," he said.

"That's always an opportunity lost, but at least we know everyone can see what we're dealing with - many issues and many DNFs.

"I think it is pretty clear that we have bigger problems to solve than the drivers at the moment, and Mexico would be a good example."