Bottas reveals Cadillac was not "100 per cent" in Canada

A weekend to forget for Bottas in Montreal

Valtteri Bottas has lifted the lid on a troubled Canadian Grand Prix, admitting that his Cadillac MAC-26 was not fully functioning across the weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve — and that certain issues could not be resolved in time for the race.

"We had a few issues [in Montreal] with the setup, the car was very different in each session, and even [in the grand prix], there were some things that we couldn't fix, so the car is not 100%," Bottas told media, including RacingNews365. "For sure, it's not yet in a place where I can gain good confidence with the car, but also we know that my power wasn't 100%."

Performance gap to Perez a recurring theme

The race itself brought little respite. Bottas finished last on the road, four laps down on winner Kimi Antonelli, in a result that underlined just how far the team still has to travel.

With Cadillac only a handful of rounds into its F1 project, the pressure on Bottas is mounting — and reports have already emerged suggesting the team is considering replacing him, with test driver Colton Herta waiting in the wings.

Development parts arriving race by race

Despite the difficult backdrop, Bottas was keen to stress that progress is being made. When asked what the main priority is for him and the team, the former Williams, Mercedes and Alfa Romeo/Sauber driver was direct: "Performance."

Elaborating on what that entails, he added: "Both mechanically and aero-wise equally, we've got to improve and find new parts, but there are parts coming for pretty much each race, and that's a good thing."

Cadillac's learning curve remains steep, but the arrival of upgrades at successive rounds at least signals an organisation pushing hard to close the gap — even if, for now, the results continue to paint a sobering picture.