Cadillac rejected social-media speculation that it planned to replace Valtteri Bottas with reserve driver Colton Herta. Team principal Graeme Lowdon told PlanetF1 the reports were “baseless and illogical,” a “complete fabrication” and had “no basis in truth.” The rumours followed Bottas appearing slower than teammate Sergio Perez in Canada and included suggestions of a switch ahead of the Monaco race, but Lowdon said those claims were wide of the mark.

Lowdon defended both Bottas and Perez, saying they had been doing extra development work as Cadillac built up its operation and that outsiders did not understand those tasks. He said it was premature to judge Bottas on current standings and that the team needed to gather more data over the remainder of the season before making performance assessments. Observers and Cadillac noted the GM-backed project has been set back by the challenges of building a team from scratch; early teething problems and organisational complexity are influencing results more than any imminent driver change. The entry debuted this season as F1’s 11th team, sits 10th in the constructors’ championship and has not yet scored a championship point.

Cadillac also pointed to practical and contractual limits on a mid-season change. Lowdon and reports emphasised that Herta does not hold the FIA Super Licence required to race in F1, PlanetF1 said Bottas is a valued member of the programme, and media accounts noted both drivers spent 2025 on the sidelines. Perez is a recent departure from Red Bull, and Bottas is understood to have a contract with an option to continue in 2027. Cadillac’s statements largely closed down immediate speculation while preserving the normal end‑of‑season evaluation process.

The FIA has banned active aerodynamic “straight mode” and removed DRS for the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix, ruling that cars must run with fixed aerodynamic surfaces for safety and circuit-specific reasons. The governing body confirmed straight mode will not be available during laps at Monte Carlo and F1.com’s official track map shows no straight-mode activation zones. Officials cited Monaco’s curved start-finish layout, the lack of any sustained section meeting the FIA’s minimum three-second activation requirement, the Tunnel exit speeds and limited run-off as reasons the adjustable wings and straight-mode stability limits are incompatible with the circuit. The FIA said the decision makes Monaco the first race weekend without moveable wings since DRS was introduced in 2011 and stressed the restriction is targeted to Monaco rather than a permanent rule change.

Overtaking aids will be limited to the new Overtake Mode, with a detection window placed between the Swimming Pool and Rascasse corners and activation occurring on the run to the final corner, just before Turns 18 and 19 (Anthony Noghes). The FIA and drivers warned that deploying straight mode causes a substantial loss of downforce and that disabling it at Monaco will make passing more difficult. Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto said he expects overtaking to be harder under the change. The move is part of a format and technical response to Monaco’s chronic lack of overtaking, and last year’s one-off mandatory two-stop rule has been dropped for 2026.

Teams must shift technical emphasis toward maximum downforce and strong low- to medium-speed handling and may bring Monaco-specific high-downforce packages to compensate for the ban on active aero. Qualifying is expected to be especially decisive on Monte Carlo’s tight street layout. Observers flagged potential beneficiaries, naming Ferrari’s SF-26 and McLaren’s short-wheelbase MCL40 as cars that could gain from the fixed-aero conditions, while Mercedes arrived at the weekend as the season favorite after recent dominance and a W17 downforce upgrade introduced in Montreal. The FIA framed the ruling as a safety-driven, circuit-by-circuit application of the 2026 rules that could reshuffle the weekend pecking order without eliminating existing pace advantages, and other venues such as Montreal will retain multiple straight-mode zones.