Cadillac boss Graeme Lowdon has said there is “no basis of truth whatsoever” in rumours suggesting Valtteri Bottas is at risk of being axed. Outlandish rumours emerged earlier this week suggesting the team might have been unhappy with the Finn’s performance and hinted that he could be replaced by American racer Colton Herta.
But that latter element alone suggested there was a hole in the story, given former IndyCar star Herta does not have an FIA superlicence and is competing in Formula 2 this year, while also driving in a handful of free practice sessions for Cadillac, in order to qualify for one in 2027.
Cadillac team principal Lowdon referenced that “basic rule” of the sport as he moved to quash the speculation over his driver’s future. He said: “There is no foundation, no truth in any of the rumours at all. I can categorically say that. I’ll make it really, really clear: factually, they’re completely incorrect. There’s no basis of truth whatsoever in any of them.
“Secondly, if we look at the job that both drivers are doing, they’re doing way more than drivers in some of the teams are having to do, because we’re constructing the team while we’re racing at the same time, and that’s a very unusual task. So, with all due respect, the outside world doesn’t know what we’re asking these drivers to do, either session to session or race to race, and also, what we’re asking them to do in terms of developing the car.
“It’s clear that we’re trying to get more pace into the car, although I have to say that, similar rumours before we even started racing suggested that we’d struggle to get within 107 per cent of qualifying. It was just a few fractions of a percent in Montreal where we missed out on advancing in sprint race qualifying again, so there’s no foundation of truth, but there’s no logic either to what anybody’s saying.
“Also, in terms of rumours, and to be honest, I haven’t read all of them, but a few that I have read just don’t even seem to take into account some of the absolute basic rules of Formula 1. Some of them suggest that we would put Colton in to replace Valtteri in the next few races, or whatever, and Colton doesn’t have enough super license points, and to some extent, that probably says it all about the quality of some of the rumours.
“I prefer not to focus on pointing out the obvious. I think the fans can see through all of that. Colton has a programme that he’s working to, Checo [Perez] has a programme with us that he’s working to, and Valtteri the same. They’re all contributing in their own way to what we’re trying to do in establishing the Cadillac Formula 1 team.
“But it’s very important to make it abundantly clear that there is absolutely not one shred of actual truth or evidence to any of the rumours suggesting that either Valtteri’s seat is at risk, or indeed, that Checo might go to another team.”
Bottas and team-mate Perez, both 36, were recruited by Cadillac to be their first F1 racers when they joined the sport for this 2026 season. Both drivers had spent a year off the grid, Bottas working as a reserve driver for Mercedes while Perez opted to spend some time out of the F1 paddock altogether after a difficult final period with Red Bull.