Bottas 'pretty confident' of keeping Cadillac seat despite Herta rumours and Perez extension

Valtteri Bottas insists he is “pretty confident” of retaining his Cadillac seat for the 2027 Formula 1 season, despite the team yet to formally confirm him and rumours intensifying that American reserve driver Colton Herta could be promoted in his place.

Cadillac has already announced a contract extension for Bottas’s team-mate Sergio Perez, leaving the Finn as the only unconfirmed driver at the outfit. Perez currently leads Bottas 15-9 in their qualifying head-to-head across the 2026 season, and Herta’s potential elevation has become a growing talking point — contingent on the American obtaining a super licence.

Bottas, a 10-time grand prix winner making his 14th year in F1 after debuting with Williams in 2013, pointed to the wording of his existing deal as the basis for his confidence. “Well, it would make sense to me,” he said. “That’s what it reads on the paper, so that’s why I’m pretty confident.”

His contract is understood to be structured as a one-plus-one arrangement, with the second season carrying an optional clause — meaning Cadillac retains the right not to exercise it. Bottas acknowledged the situation without alarm. “For me, it was always clear who’s here for next year. Obviously, Checo made an extension. I haven’t made a further extension yet. But I’m sure in a big company there’s always board meetings. I believe those are soon. Everything just needs to be validated with the big bosses in the USA.”

On the rumours themselves, Bottas was deliberately brief. “I don’t really have much to say. That’s the situation, there’s rumours. I have nothing really to say. We’ll find out eventually.”

The broader context for Bottas’s position is a difficult debut season for Cadillac as a constructor. The team sits bottom of the Constructors’ Championship without a point from 18 rounds, and both drivers were recruited specifically for their experience — Bottas and Perez each carrying race-winning pedigree intended to accelerate the team’s development curve.

Bottas said “not at all” when asked if he felt he was performing at his peak, but argued the environment makes it hard to demonstrate his true level. “It’s all of what I signed up for,” he said. “Development, working for the future. Sometimes nursing the car home just to make it to the flag. I’m just really waiting for the moment that we get a better car. Then we’ll actually do something with it instead of just nursing it.”

He was clear that his approach has been to follow team instructions throughout. “All I’ve done is follow the instructions. When it’s time to push, it’s time to push. I think I’ve given everything I have. That’s all.”