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Cadillac team boss Marcin Budkowski admitted "it is important" for the team to field an American driver – minutes after Colton Herta thought he had completed the mileage he needed to qualify for an FIA superlicence. Cadillac thought the former IndyCar racer was just one point away from the 40 he needed to become eligible for the licence which would allow him to race in Formula One, and got over the 100km threshold in FP1 at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Friday. The FIA has confirmed, however, that he still needs to add one more point to his total.
Herta's planned eligibility to race in F1 next year heaps further pressure on Valtteri Bottas, whose future has been the subject of much speculation of date. He signed a multi-year deal when he joined the Cadillac project, but rumours have suggested he may not see the second season of that agreement.
Cadillac chiefs have not fully shut down the rumour which has only added further fuel to the speculation. And, speaking only minutes after the end of FP1 on Friday, team principal Budkowski said he wants to see "more" from the Finn in the final weeks of this campaign.
He told Sky Sports: "Valtteri did a really good race in Austin: he was strong in qualifying and he was strong in the race as well, and that's what he needs to do, race in, race out. We've seen weekends where he was on it, on pace with Checo [Sergio Perez] and sometimes even a bit quicker. We need more of that."
For years, since before the Cadillac project made it to the F1 grid, it was clear that fielding an American driver in F1 was a priority for the team's bosses. Herta has been the clear favourite ever since, having been handed test and development driver opportunities and supported in his switch from IndyCar to Formula 2.
Herta's F2 season has gone poorly, but Cadillac were always much less interested in that than they were in how he gets on when behind the wheel of F1 machinery. And Budkowski admitted it will be "important" for Cadillac to put an American driver on the grid sooner or later.
He said: "It is important, it is an American team. He races under the American flag and, you saw it in Austin, we're building a strong American identity as well. It would be great to have an American driver, in increases the hype. But it's also about the timing, the driver, whether the team is ready for it. We'll be assessing that.
"But the objective this season was to have Colton as part of the team, doing some simulator development for us. He's done five FP1s for us now, one more than expected because in Monza he unfortunately had an issue on his car which prevented him from doing any meaningful running. We might do more FP1s with him to give him more experience, it's part of the process really."
Herta's presence will pile further pressure on Bottas to improve his performances. He will definitely be starting from the back of the grid in Mexico City on Sunday, however, the FIA having already confirmed that the Finn has taken a swathe of new engine parts.
Those are all beyond his annual allowance and so come with automatic grid penalties, this time totalling 50 places' worth. Any grid penalty over 15 places is converted automatically into a back-of-grid start, meaning Bottas' qualifying result on Saturday will be irrelevant.
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