Bottas backs Cadillac's progress despite pointless and troubled F1 debut season

Valtteri Bottas has defended Cadillac’s start to life in Formula 1, insisting the team has made clear and measurable progress through the opening half of its debut 2026 season despite failing to score a single championship point.

Cadillac entered the sport as F1’s 11th constructor, pairing Bottas — a six-time race winner during his time at Mercedes — with former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez. The combination of experience was intended to accelerate the team’s development, and Bottas argues it is already paying dividends, even if the results column remains empty.

“We knew there were going to be challenges,” Bottas told F1.com. “There have been a few races that we haven’t finished with technical issues. We knew that it was possible and that is part of the learning curve. The main thing is we just need to learn from those and move on.”

Bottas pointed to tangible improvements in both pace and reliability as evidence that the team is heading in the right direction. “I knew that we could improve throughout the year — we can see we have done. We’ve been able to pick up the pace, we’ve been able to get the car more reliable. How the team operates, we’re getting better and better. It’s been a great journey so far, but there’s still a lot of work to do.”

The Finn also highlighted the human challenge of building a new team from scratch, noting that he arrived knowing very few of his colleagues. “Almost every team member you’ve had to build this relationship of how you can work best with him or her and how to get the most out of the people around you,” he said. “That’s been a lot of work, but that’s what it is when you start a new team.”

Bottas added that his working relationship with Perez has also developed well. “Same with Checo, actually. Everything has started off really well already and it’s nice to work with him.”

The team’s off-track picture shifted this week when Cadillac confirmed that team principal Graeme Lowdon had been replaced by Marcin Budkowski, the former executive director at Alpine. The leadership change adds another variable as the squad pushes to open its points account in the second half of the season.