Valtteri Bottas has struggled so far on his return to Formula 1 with Cadillac as he admits he has a “long way to go”.
The Finnish racing driver made his comeback to the grid, this season, after a year-long hiatus as Mercedes’ reserve driver last year.
The 10-time Grand Prix was snatched up by the General-Motors-backed project to fill its ranks with experience alongside Red Bull exilee Sergio Perez.
But seven rounds into F1’s latest era, Bottas has failed to make an impression for the sport’s 11th team.
The former Williams and Mercedes driver has failed to score a single point this season with his highest finish coming at the Chinese Grand Prix with a P13.
Perez, too, has failed to get Cadillac its first-ever F1 championship points, but has fared far better in the other garage as compared to the Finn.
The Mexican racing driver has a comfortable 5-2 lead over his team-mate in the intra-team head-to-head, in both, qualifying and races run so far.
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This gap in performance prompted reports suggesting the team to be looking to offload Bottas.
And while Team Principal Graeme Lowdon has nipped these rumors in the bud, Bottas is acutely aware that he does indeed need to step up his game.
He detailed how setup inconsistencies and a general lack of confidence in the car has meant that things haven’t really “come my way yet”.
“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,” he said.
“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.
“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. So, it’s still a long way to go.”
Bottas will be hoping to make amends for Cadillac at the Red Bull Ring, this weekend, for the Austrian GP – a track where he last stood on pole in 2020.
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