Ocon knocks on Cadillac’s door in search of an F1 seat for 2027

There are few seats left for next season in Formula 1, after Haas confirmed last week that Rafael Camara would replace Esteban Ocon. At Haas, some details still need to be finalized before Oliver Bearman can be certain of his seat alongside Camara. Racing Bulls has also yet to officially announce its line-up, but Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad are almost certain to stay.

At Cadillac, it seemed for a long time that Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas would stay on for a second season. That was, after all, what was communicated under then-team principal Graeme Lowdon. Marcin Budkowski, who succeeded the Briton during the summer break, was unwilling to confirm whether that would indeed be the case.

In Austin, where the United States Grand Prix is being held this weekend, he said: “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.”

Perhaps Ocon sees an opening at Cadillac based on the Pole’s comments. The one-time Grand Prix winner is certainly hoping to secure a seat with the American team. However, Budkowski did not want to name any drivers. “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.

“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,” said Budkowski, who previously worked with Ocon at Alpine.