– Did Valtteri Bottas imagine his Formula 1 comeback differently? At least former team boss Günther Steiner suspects that the Finn did not expect his new employer Cadillac to be so far behind in the first year in the top class.
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“I think Valtteri expected something else, but not that,” said Steiner in the Red Flags Podcast. There, the expert evaluates all 22 drivers at the 2026 Formula 1 summer break, and Bottas ends up at the very bottom of his personal ranking together with Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon.
Teammate Sergio Perez fares somewhat better with Steiner. “Perez is simply better than him at the moment,” emphasizes the long-time Haas team boss and explains: “What Perez is trying, Valtteri, it seems, has probably given up a bit on.”
“His results are not so good,” he says about Bottas and adds: “Now he probably thinks: ‘Sure, I drive a Formula 1 car, but I had a good job at Mercedes as a reserve driver. As a reserve driver, I was last because I didn’t get to race, and now I have to make all this effort to be last.'”
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Although Bottas is 21st in the drivers’ championship and thus at least on paper ahead of Perez, who, like his teammate, has not yet scored a point, the Mexican left a stronger impression in some races in the first half of the season.
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For example, in Monaco, he would have scored the first Cadillac point in Formula 1 if he had not lost tenth place due to a penalty. In addition, he is clearly ahead in the internal race duel against Bottas (including sprints) with 9:4.
Steiner is therefore not sure whether Bottas will continue to drive for Cadillac in the future. “If they have to replace a driver, in my opinion, they will of course replace Valtteri,” he emphasizes.
Bottas and Perez returned to Formula 1 in 2026 after each taking a year off. The Mexican lost his seat at Red Bull at the end of 2024, Bottas drove for Sauber until the end of 2024 and bridged the 2025 season as a reserve driver at Mercedes.
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