Valtteri Bottas revealed his thoughts on Cadillac’s improvement and touched on the potential threat of Aston Martin ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Cadillac team has suffered a tough season thus far, but as a newcomer on the grid, the team have already been making steady improvements. The major upgrade that was supposed to be a step forward in Austria led to a double retirement. However, Silverstone saw the Finn finish P16 before Belgium sent him back to P18 again. Still, the driver believes the best is yet to come.
“Well, everything we’ve brought to the car has made it quicker, has made it better. So I think that’s really positive for a new team,” he said.
“It’s not a guarantee in Formula 1 that the parts that you put in the car, that it actually works. So I think that’s promising for the future. So we’ve made steps. We haven’t made huge steps, but we have seen progress.
“And I think what’s been quite evident, if we compare ourselves to Aston, as they haven’t really been upgrading their car yet, we’ve seen that we’ve been able to get further away from them quite a good chunk. And that has come from this small improvement.”
Bottas ‘scared’ to be at the back if Aston Martin make a big step forward
Furthermore, while Cadillac have been experiencing an uphill battle, they are not the only team to do so. Aston Martin have taken a big step backwards this season, and have been consistently at the very back of the field.
When asked whether there have been any conversations internally about what he is expecting from Aston Martin, Bottas told the media: “Yeah, I think there’s lots of rumours. Most are saying it’s a big step for them. But again, we’ll see as the car hits the track.
“One rumour I heard [is that] the only thing that is the same than the current car is the front suspension. Everything else is new. So let’s see. I’m quite curious about that. But at the same time, I’m a little bit scared in a way that if they make a big step, then we’re at the back. But in the end, we need to focus on our job.
“You know, we shouldn’t waste our energy on that.”
If Aston Martin were to make a step forward, it could make the fight of the backmarkers interesting. Currently, the Aston Martin team has only 1 point this season, while Cadillac has 0. Bottas and teammate Sergio Perez will hope that the team’s steady improvement will lead to their first points of the season soon, hopefully at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
READ MORE: Aston Martin denies ‘make-or-break’ narrative behind crunch F1 upgrades
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