Here is a twist nobody quite saw coming. According to Motorsport.com, George Russell has pointed to Mercedes reserve driver Frederik Vesti as a surprise contender to land a drive with Cadillac for the 2027 Formula 1 campaign. The American team has already locked in Sergio Perez for the next F1 season with a contract extension signed on Wednesday, but Valtteri Bottas' seat remains completely open.
While various names keep floating around, the driver market is getting properly wild. Outgoing Haas man Esteban Ocon is available, though Motorsport.com understands he is destined to become Aston Martin’s reserve. That leaves Vesti still fighting for his official F1 debut after finishing runner-up in the 2023 F2 standings. The 24-year-old has been busy balancing Hypercar duties for Cadillac with his heavy workload at Mercedes, racking up seven FP1 appearances, including a recent Friday outing in Mexico where he stepped in for Russell.
Vesti made the most of that chance, slotting into third place on the timesheets. He finished 0.074s behind stablemate Kimi Antonelli and 0.733s off Ferrari pacesetter Charles Leclerc following a late soft-tyre flyer after heavy long-run programmes.
“He did a really good job,” Russell said. “I know he's really fighting hard to be in with a shot potentially of the Cadillac seat, and I think he deserves his chance.” Russell added that Vesti has shouldered the heavy development lifting during past FP1 outings without getting glory runs, prompting the Mercedes driver to push the team to give him a proper performance run. Vesti admitted he was left “extremely happy” with the session.
That stands in stark contrast to Colton Herta. Cadillac’s test driver stepped in for Bottas during practice but ended up rooted to the bottom of the timesheets, finishing 3.237s off the pace. The former IndyCar star also lagged 0.970s behind 18th-placed Perez. Despite a disappointing Formula 2 season and a current lack of a superlicence, talk linking Herta to the Cadillac seat is heating up, with his superlicence qualification expected to clear once he tackles FP1 in Brazil next week.
“I want to do the best I can for the team,” Herta said. “Every time I get in the car, I want to be in Formula 1 - that's the goal. That's why I'm over here doing this. Personally, I want to get there as soon as possible. A lot of discussions are happening and a lot of stuff is going on outside of what I can control. I'm just trying to do my best inside the car and hope that shows for something.”
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