Colton Herta won the last FIA superlicence point he needed with an FP1 drive in Mexico City on Friday, intensifying pressure on Valtteri Bottas at Cadillac.
Herta, the former IndyCar racer, was one point away from the 40 required to become eligible for the licence that would allow him to race in Formula One. He crossed the 100km threshold during first practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Friday.
Budkowski wants more from Bottas
Cadillac team boss Marcin Budkowski admitted "it is important" for the team to field an American driver, speaking minutes after the end of FP1. 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."
Bottas signed a multi-year deal when he joined the Cadillac project, but speculation has suggested he may not see the second season of that agreement. Cadillac chiefs have not fully shut down the rumour.
American driver a priority
Since before the Cadillac project reached the F1 grid, fielding an American driver was a clear priority for the team. Herta has been the favourite, having been given test and development driver opportunities and supported in his switch from IndyCar to Formula 2.
Budkowski 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, it increases the hype. But it's also about the timing, the driver, whether the team is ready for it. We'll be assessing that."
He added: "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."
Bottas set for back-of-grid start
Herta's presence will add further pressure on Bottas to improve his performances. Bottas will start from the back of the grid in Mexico City on Sunday, after the FIA confirmed he has taken a swathe of new engine parts.
Those parts are beyond his annual allowance and come with automatic grid penalties, 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.
