凯迪拉克F1负责人回避车手问题引发新疑虑
美国大奖赛周末，焦点自然转向F1的两支美国车队。这导致凯迪拉克在关于其2027年及以后车手阵容的持续猜测中面临一些尴尬的问题。
为什么凯迪拉克F1负责人通过回避车手问题引发新的好奇
关于瓦尔特里·博塔斯在凯迪拉克未来去向的猜测持续存在，因为车队正打算引入一名美国车手
马辛·布德科夫斯基，凯迪拉克车队负责人
美国大奖赛周末自然意味着聚光灯转向了F1的两支美国车队。这也导致凯迪拉克在对其2027年及以后车手阵容的猜测中面临了一些尴尬的问题。
Sergio Perez和Valtteri Bottas都签订了“多年”合同，据说是所谓的“一年加一年”安排，其中第二年是否续约是可选的，取决于双方满足各种条件。两位车手之间的表现差异如此之大，以至于Bottas的位置已经成为了几个月来车队的八卦话题。
最近任命的团队负责人Marcin Budkowski已经不得不对此进行一些灭火工作，他的前任Graeme Lowdon也是如此。但周五在奥斯汀举行的FIA车队代表新闻发布会上的一个相当奇特的时刻表明，凯迪拉克的计划并不像之前宣传的那样固定。
引发这一事件的催化剂是来自一位广播员的关于Perez即将迎来第300场大奖赛起跑的软问题：“评价一个在网格后部战斗的车手有多难，同时他给人的印象是比队友有更好的赛季表现？关于车手，你们有兴趣就也许的预备角色与Esteban [奥康]进行任何对话吗？”
在试图给出一个合适的含糊其辞的答案时，Budkowski开始感到困惑。
“看，对于一个像Checo这样的车手，正如你所说，他有着丰富的经验和许多比赛，我可以告诉你，他并不像任何接近退休的车手那样表现或驾驶，”他说。
“他在驾驶座上非常努力。他在幕后也非常努力地推动我们，在简报室和外面，他经常给我和其他团队成员发短信，推动我们进步。他渴望胜利，他充满动力，这实际上是非常好的。他以自己的风格做到这一点。
“我们有两名车手：一个可能更热情，另一个可能更冷静，如果我们可以这样说的。他们都以自己独特的方式推动车队，但Checo确实是在非常努力地推动我们。仅从他在起跑线上的身体语言来看，当他戴上头盔，坐进车里，他正在为战斗做准备。那里充满了激情，充满了动力，对于一个经验丰富的车手来说，这确实是非常令人印象深刻的。
“同时，我们也在从他的反馈和作为一名经验丰富的车手的角度获取他的意见。所以，是的，这是一个非常好的组合。
“很抱歉，第二个问题是关于埃斯特班·奥康的？嗯，看吧，作为一个车队负责人，我相信我的同事也是一样，你会接到来自市场上每一位车手或车手经理的电话和联系。所以，有很多车手和经理已经联系了我。
“我不会说是谁或不是谁，但几乎所有在市场上的人都已经联系过了，正如你所预期的。但是，是的，我想这是最后一个地方，正如你可以想象的那样，我不会在这里传达任何关于车手阵容的信息。
如果威廉·莎士比亚在场，毫无疑问他会拿起羽毛笔在羊皮纸上划掉一条笔记，表示这位绅士过于抗议。幸运的是，对于凯迪拉克车队负责人来说，也许，阿德里安·纽维在场，并成为了后续大多数问题的自然磁铁。
Motorsport.com了解到，奥康几乎不可能加入凯迪拉克，因为他和佩雷斯在上一次同处一室时就像油和水一样不相容。据信他可能会成为阿斯顿·马丁的第三位车手。
凯迪拉克是否会在2027年保留博塔斯，目前尚不清楚，但众所周知，车队老板希望尽快有一位美国车手坐在赛车座位上。洛夫顿今年夏天的意外替代者表明，通用汽车和TWG赛车运动公司的期望似乎领先于车队目前的进展。
凯迪拉克在美洲赛车场的自由练习1中使用了科尔顿·赫塔，但他由于国际汽联改变了资格赛规则，只差一分未能获得超级驾照，因此他成为任何比赛机会的左翼候选人。如果他今年在其他练习中能有有意义的驾驶表现，他将获得资格——但他在本赛季的F2赛事表现相当不稳定，并不是一张很强的名片。
“显然，在美国车队中有美国车手是一个很好的故事，”布德科维茨在本周末对天空体育说。
“这需要是正确的时间和正确的车手。但我们正在努力。我们正在和科尔顿一起努力。
“有一些真正令人兴奋的美国新秀正在崛起。我们看到了Ugo Ugochukwu赢得了F3冠军。我们还有Sebastian Wheldon将在明年进入F3。”
““所以这里有很多潜力，我们当然会去调查。”"
英文原文
Why Cadillac F1 boss provoked fresh intrigue by dodging driver question
Speculation continues to surround the future of Valtteri Bottas at Cadillac as the team looks to bring on an American driver
Marcin Budkowski, Cadillac Team Principal
The US GP weekend naturally means the spotlight gravitates towards Formula 1’s two American-owned teams. That has led to some awkward questions for Cadillac amid ongoing speculation over its driver line-up for 2027 and beyond.
Both Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas are on “multi-year” contracts, understood to be a so-called one-plus-one arrangement in which the second year is optional, subject to either party fulfilling various conditions. Such has been the disparity in performance between the two drivers that Bottas’s position has been the object of paddock gossip for months.
Recently appointed team principal Marcin Budkowski has already had to do some firefighting on this, as had his predecessor Graeme Lowdon. But a rather peculiar moment in the FIA’s press conference for team representatives on Friday in Austin suggested Cadillac’s plans aren’t as fixed as previously billed.
The catalyst was a soft question from one of the broadcasters on the theme of Perez’s upcoming 300th grand prix start: “How difficult is it to evaluate a driver who’s fighting at the back of the grid, at the same time as the impression is that he’s having a better season than his team-mate? And quickly on drivers, would you be interested in having any conversation with Esteban [Ocon] regarding maybe a reserve role?”
In trying to give a suitably anodyne non-answer, Budkowski began to flounder.
“Look, for a driver like Checo, who, as you said, has a huge amount of experience and a number of races, I can tell you he doesn’t behave or drive like a driver who is anywhere close to retirement,” hew said.
“He’s pushing very hard behind the wheel. He’s pushing us very hard also behind the scenes, in the debrief rooms and outside, and regularly texting me and other members of the team to push us to improve. He’s hungry, he’s motivated, and that’s actually really good to see. He does it in his own style.
“We have two drivers: one is more hot and one is probably more cold, if we could say, from there. And they both push the team in their own particular ways, but Checo is, yes, pushing us very hard. And just looking at the way his body language on the grid, when he gets his helmet on and he gets in the car, he’s getting ready for a fight. There’s a lot of fire, there’s a lot of motivation there, so it’s really impressive for a driver of this experience.
“And at the same time, we’re getting his feedback and his input in terms of, as an experienced driver. So yes, it’s a very good combination.
“And sorry, the second question was about Esteban Ocon? 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. So, there are a number of drivers and managers who have contacted me.
“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.”
Were William Shakespeare present, he would no doubt have put quill to parchment and scratched out a note to the effect that the gentleman doth protest too much. Fortunately for the Cadillac team principal, perhaps, Adrian Newey was in the room and acted as a natural magnet for the majority of further questions.
Motorsport.com understands that Ocon is highly unlikely to go to Cadillac, since he and Perez mixed like oil and water when they last coexisted under the same roof. It’s believed he will probably become Aston Martin’s third driver.
Whether or not Cadillac retain Bottas for 2027, it’s known that the team’s owners wish to have an American driver in a race seat as soon as possible. Lowdon’s surprise replacement this summer is an indication of how General Motors and TWG Motorsports’ expectations appear to be running somewhere ahead of the team’s current progress.
Cadillac ran Colton Herta in FP1 at the Circuit of The Americas, but he is a leftfield candidate for any race opportunities since he is one point short of qualifying for a superlicence, owing to the FIA having changed the qualifying rubric. If he has meaningful running in another session this year he will qualify – but his rather patchy Formula 2 campaign this season isn’t a very strong calling card.
“Obviously having an American driver in an American team is a great story,” Budkowski told Sky Sports this weekend.
“It needs to be the right time and the right driver. But we're working on that. We're working on that with Colton.
“There are some really exciting American talents coming up through the ranks as well. We've seen Ugo Ugochukwu winning F3. We've got [Sebastian] Wheldon coming through to F3 next year.
“So there's a lot of potential here and we'll look into that obviously.”
Motorsport.com ·
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