Cadillac F1 team: Valtteri Bottas discusses early season performance and upcoming upgrades. Valtteri Bottas reflects on Cadillac’s Formula 1 debut in China.

Valtteri Bottas is satisfied with Cadillac’s start to the 2026 Formula 1 season, which has at least shown better reliability than Aston Martin at the beginning of the year.

The debut of Cadillac

For a team that, just 12 months ago, did not even have its full personnel, making a Formula 1 debut during the full-scale 2026 regulation revolution and completing three out of four races is a commendable achievement. Cadillac has managed this feat and now aims to leverage the kilometers and experience gained to continue its process of “settling in” and growth.

Performance-wise, the Cadillac MAC-26 is understandably far behind the competition, roughly four seconds per lap, but the spring break imposed by Formula 1 due to the conflict in Iran offers struggling teams a chance to reduce part of the gap by working extensively in the simulator. For Valtteri Bottas, missing the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races represents a clear advantage for Cadillac, which plans to bring the first upgrades at Suzuka and the first major development package at Miami.

Bottas’ thoughts

“Finishing the second race with both cars and placing 13th and 14th is a decent result, a good starting point,” commented the Finnish driver. “Certainly, we lack speed at the moment. We can only compete with Aston Martin right now. If we can keep pace with them, to beat other teams we need better performance.”

“We had planned to bring updates to almost every race, so there will definitely be something for Suzuka, and I hope for something bigger after the spring break,” he continued. “The break is quite advantageous for us; we have more time to address our problems. We haven’t had a completely clean weekend yet, without issues, and a little breathing room helps.”

Cadillac’s 2026 journey is a classic case of reliability preceding performance. While the MAC-26 is currently the slowest car on the grid in terms of pure lap time, its ability to reach the checkered flag has already put it ahead of more established manufacturers struggling with the new power unit formulas. Based on the content of Valtteri Bottas’s feedback, the “real” Cadillac might only reveal itself once the circus reaches Florida.