Valtteri Bottas stated that Cadillac needs to aim higher in its first season in Formula 1. For the Finnish driver, the team cannot be satisfied just with the fact that it managed to reach the grid.
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The pressure comes at a difficult time for Cadillac. After twelve rounds, the team has yet to score points, with its best result being Bottas’ 13th place in the Chinese GP, and it has lost positions in the fight for the midfield pack in the most recent races.
Bottas acknowledged that the team exceeded expectations by managing to compete this year, but stated that this cannot be considered enough: “I think we did very well. We also surprised many people by actually being able to race, but at the same time, there are always things we can do better,” he said.
The Finn highlighted that the next step needs to appear directly in the results: “We need to improve. We need to get closer to the midfield pack. We need to start seeing progress on the timing sheets, not just in other areas, that’s the mindset we need to have,” he stated.
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Cadillac also faces reliability issues related to brakes and overheating. During the August break, the team CEO, Dan Towriss, decided to replace Graeme Lowdon as team principal with Marcin Budkowski, a change that placed a professional with a strong engineering background in the role of team principal.
Bottas evaluated Budkowski’s arrival positively, highlighting the new leader’s experience: “He knows a lot about the sport. He has seen a lot and will bring a different perspective and vision to the team,” he added.
For Bottas, however, the priority remains clear: avoid complacency: “We can’t be satisfied if we are just happy with what we have done. Then there is no progress. We want more, and that’s how the results will eventually come,” he concluded.
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