Bottas admits Cadillac F1 return ‘hasn’t come my way’ after difficult start

Valtteri Bottas has admitted his return to Formula 1 with Cadillac has been far from straightforward, conceding that the early phase of his comeback ‘definitely hasn’t come my way’ after a run of difficult weekends alongside Sergio Pérez.

The Finn spent last season away from a race seat as Mercedes’ reserve driver before being signed by Cadillac to partner Pérez. But seven completed rounds into the campaign, Bottas has struggled to build momentum, with the Mexican holding a 5-2 advantage over him in both qualifying and race results.

Bottas searching for rhythm at Cadillac

Bottas’ start has been defined by inconsistency rather than progress. He has retired from three of the seven completed rounds and his best result so far remains 13th place in China. Pérez, by contrast, has adapted more quickly to the new F1 outfit, leaving Bottas under early scrutiny.

That pressure has already fuelled speculation over his future, although Cadillac moved quickly to dismiss rumours that he could be dropped. The situation has nevertheless underlined how demanding Bottas’ return has been, particularly in a team still trying to establish itself and extract more stable performance.

The contrast with his team-mate has become one of Cadillac’s central early-season storylines, with Pérez’s role in the team’s push also drawing attention in recent coverage of Sergio Perez and Cadillac’s midfield ambitions.

Setup inconsistency and limited track time

Asked whether car set-up and brake issues had contributed to his difficult start, Bottas agreed that they had played a part.

“I would say so,” Bottas told the media. “It definitely hasn’t come my way yet, and a lot of it is the inconsistency with the setup. Even some parts of the car quite often feel different to what you expect.”

For a driver returning after a year without racing full-time, that lack of predictability has clearly mattered. Bottas also pointed to the early-season calendar rhythm as another factor, with the absence of a race in April limiting his chance to build continuity behind the wheel.

“Also, at the beginning of the year, having such a big gap between the races and not spending that much time on track hasn’t helped,” he said.

Still a long way to go

Despite the difficult start, Bottas is not framing the situation as irreversible. His focus is on finding a more consistent operating window with the car and using the upcoming run of races to rebuild confidence and rhythm.

“But I’m really hoping that now we get into a better flow, a better rhythm, understand the issues we’ve been having with the car better, and go from there,” Bottas added. “So, it’s still a long way to go.”