Valtteri Bottas says Cadillac remains caught in a “no man’s land” in Formula 1‘s midfield battle, even after upgrades brought the team closer to the pack at Silverstone.
The American outfit arrived in F1 this season with modest ambitions, but has already outperformed the low bar set by previous newcomers such as Hispania, Virgin Racing, and the 2010-era Lotus, all of which struggled to keep pace with the rest of the grid before eventually leaving the sport in various forms.
A major upgrade introduced in Austria brought reliability issues rather than results, with both Bottas and team-mate Sergio Perez forced out early after suffering brake fires. Silverstone marked a turnaround of sorts: despite ongoing gremlins, both cars made it to the finish, with Perez matching his best result of the season.
“It’s definitely good to finish, and the last three races we haven’t, so now finally, we did it,” Bottas told media, including Motorsport Week.
The Finn was more cautious when assessing overall pace, however, suggesting Cadillac remains a step behind the midfield teams it is chasing.
“Lots of good information, but it’s still pretty clear that we’re in a little bit of a no man’s land over there,” Bottas said. “But we seemed at times a bit closer to Haas or the Williams.”
Cadillac to ‘chip away’ ahead of Spa upgrades
Bottas had climbed as high as 16th in the early stages at Silverstone, but was unable to hold that position as the race wore on.
“Not quite,” he said, when asked whether he’d been able to stay with the cars ahead. “I think, naturally, we were kind of falling to our place. But that’s why I was hoping for the restart at the end. It would have been nice, but a shame that the race finished like that.”
Unlike Aston Martin, which is delaying its next major upgrade until Hungary, Cadillac plans to introduce further new parts at Spa in two weeks’ time.
“We have two weeks to try and make it faster,” Bottas said. “I’m sure we will have something in Spa to add to the car. So, we just need to keep chipping away.”
Next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix will provide another stern test for the Silverstone-based American marque, with the circuit likely to expose the nascent team’s car, but there is no doubt that rapid improvements from Australia has boosted its ranks, and the upgrades package will hopefully cement its pace over fellow backmarkers Aston Martin.
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