Bottas is feeling optimistic: “We are closing the gap”

Written by Bo Helmus

Bottas is happy after the first day of practice | Formula One

Cadillac isn’t having the best start of their maiden Formula One season, to put it kindly. It is one of two teams that is yet to score a single point in 2026. After some disappointing outings in Australia and China, the American team finally seems to get closer to their competitors. 

With Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez behind the wheel, Cadillac brought 500 race starts of experience. The drivers have an immaculate sense of what is happening in the car and with that knowledge, they can give constructive feedback to the engineers. At least, if they can get out of the garage. 

Best day yet

So far, the team has been struggling with all kinds of issues, not least colliding with each other, which is costing them valuable track time. At the notoriously difficult Suzuka, things are finally looking better for Cadillac. 

Cadillac has been struggling with all kinds of issues in the first few races  | Credit: Formula One

Bottas was optimistic when he arrived in the media pen: “It’s fun to be on my favourite track, it’s great out there. On my side of the garage, we’ve had the best day so far we’ve had in a race weekend.

“Everything was on time, not a single issue today. So I could really focus on the performance and fine tuning the car balance. In that way, a positive day.” The team desperately needed a good day, as they are still over 2.5 seconds slower than the fastest time in the practice sessions.

The midfield battle

However, the front-runners are not Cadillac’s fight this year. The goal is to get closer to the midfield, and they are making some proper steps to get there, as Bottas agrees: “It seems like we are ahead of Aston [Martin] today, and actually not too far from Alpine and Williams. At least a bit closer than in China.

The MAC-26 on track at Suzuka | Credit: Cadillac Formula 1 Team via X

“In that sense, it’s positive,” the Fin continues. “But we’re still towards the back, which is not great. But we can see the positives. Everything was straightforward. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

Bottas is confident that the team will make progress throughout the season: “We will eventually race a proper race. We’ll get there,” he says. “We can see progress with the new bits we brought this weekend. It’s definitely giving us a bit of a boost. We just need to keep going like this and we’ll get there eventually.”