– Cadillac was indeed one of the fastest cars at the Miami Grand Prix – but not on the track, rather in the pit lane: Valtteri Bottas was clocked at 89.5 km/h instead of the allowed 80 km/h during the race and therefore had to serve a drive-through penalty.
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“I pressed the pit limiter button, but apparently not hard enough,” the Finn immediately explained after the race: “We still don’t have the right feedback on some buttons, so that’s another mistake we’re still working on.”
“That’s a known problem, we just don’t have the new buttons yet. Hopefully it will work at the next race. Yes, that happens when you start with a new team.” In the end, Bottas finished last with two laps down.
But there was no sign of disappointment from the Cadillac driver, who also received a warning for ignoring blue flags. “No, there is no frustration. I chose that. I knew it would be difficult, but yes, it was a tough race.”
Cadillac has “problems with the quality of certain parts”
There was still confidence on Saturday. “After qualifying, I felt quite good with the fresh tires, but as soon as the tire dropped off, the pace was pretty weak, even compared to Checo,” says Bottas referring to his teammate Sergio Perez, who finished in 16th place.
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“We didn’t have a good impression, and we still have some problems with the quality of certain parts,” admits the 36-year-old. “There is a lot to investigate.” Cadillac even brought some updates to the first home race of the year.
“There are many areas where we can improve,” says Bottas, especially regarding the general pace, which in Miami “sometimes seemed a bit better” and “sometimes not.” Nevertheless, the updates worked, the Cadillac driver believes.
“As I said, we are not yet installing all the parts in the car, so there is still some lack of consistency, but overall it is getting better,” the Finn is optimistic about the upcoming race. “Hopefully, we will take another step forward in Montreal.”
What leads the Cadillac driver to this assumption? “Our weakness remains fast to medium-speed corners, and Montreal is only slow to medium-speed. Hopefully, we are a bit closer there. Also, it’s a short lap, so the gaps will be smaller.”
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Reliability as one of Cadillac’s strengths
Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon confirms that his team brought numerous updates “in the area of aerodynamics” and further improvements are in the pipeline. “A few upgrades focused on reliability, but [on Saturday and Sunday] both cars finished the race each time.”
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“We have seen how difficult that is with others. That’s why the upgrades we plan here are much more performance-oriented and less focused on reliability,” Lowdon reveals. “Of the performance upgrades, the focus is mainly on aerodynamics.”
“So there are still further possibilities for weight reduction, but even these are primarily designed to strategically use the weight on the car. You have to constantly evolve in Formula 1, and we are no different from other teams in that.”
What the Cadillac team principal thanks his drivers for
Lowdon agrees with Bottas’s criticism that the quality of some parts is not yet right. “Everything is so new that it is very difficult to bring all processes to the desired level,” says the team principal. “We are not there yet, but we will get there.”
“I want to thank the drivers because they have the maturity to understand that the way we have implemented certain things on the car will constantly improve. They also have the maturity and experience to know that they can really benefit from motivating everyone on the team at a reasonable pace.”
“If you put too much pressure on, it is counterproductive, and both Valtteri and Checo set exactly the right pace,” praises the Brit. “Finding the right cadence is really extremely important. I am satisfied with our current state.”
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“I hope the fans understand that this is the toughest sport in the world,” says Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon. “You can’t just come here and run everyone else into the ground. It just doesn’t work that way.”
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