(Motorsport-Total.com) – Cadillac has experienced a turbulent Formula 1 season so far: the newcomer is still waiting for its first championship points and has recently struggled with reliability issues and several retirements. Nevertheless, Valtteri Bottas sees the team on a good path and is convinced that significant progress has already been made within the team.
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“We knew there would be challenges,” Bottas told F1.com. “There were some races we couldn’t finish due to technical problems. We were aware of that, and it is part of the learning process. The most important thing is that we learn from it and keep going.”
“But otherwise, honestly, there were no big surprises,” says the Finn, who has so far looked rather pale alongside Sergio Perez. “I knew we could improve over the course of the year – and you can see that we have succeeded. We were able to increase the pace and make the car more reliable.”
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“We are also getting better and better with the workflows within the team,” says Bottas, who can certainly draw comparisons to the competition from his time at Mercedes and may provide valuable input for Cadillac’s further development. “It has been a great journey so far, but there is still a lot of work ahead of us.”
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Bottas: “I am getting to know the people better and better”
“When I joined the team, I only knew a few people from before,” the Finn looks back. “With almost every team member, I first had to build a working relationship to find out how best to collaborate and how to get the best out of the people around me.”
“That was a lot of work, but that’s how it is when you build a new team,” adds Bottas. However, the situation has now “improved significantly.” “I am getting to know the team and the people I work with better and better. The same actually applies to Checo.”
“The start was really good, and working with him is fun,” says the Finnish Cadillac driver about his Mexican teammate. However, the duo now faces the next change: Graeme Lowdon was replaced as team principal, his successor is former Alpine managing director Marcin Budkowski.
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