Cadillac team principal Marcin Budkowski turned a softball question in Austin into a driver-lineup mystery. Asked about evaluating drivers at the back and whether he'd talked to Esteban Ocon, Budkowski praised Sergio Perez's hunger but conspicuously dodged any mention of Valtteri Bottas's future. The rambling non-answer suggested those "multi-year" contracts aren't as ironclad as advertised.
GM wants an American in the seat, and the clock is ticking. Colton Herta ran FP1 at COTA but sits one superlicense point short after the FIA moved the goalposts. His patchy F2 campaign hasn't helped his case. Budkowski name-checked younger Americans Ugo Ugochukwu and Sebastian Wheldon, but neither is F1-ready. Ocon is out—he and Perez already failed the roommate test once.
If Bottas goes, Cadillac faces an impossible choice: rush an unqualified Herta, or keep a struggling European while American prospects mature. For a team under pressure to deliver the hometown story, neither option looks good.
Read the full story at Motorsport.com
