Bottas on Cadillac's F1 reality check: learn, finish races, don't be last

F1
January 27, 2026

Cadillac's first F1 season comes with a clear message: Try not to be last

Sergio Perez, Cadillac, during a Silverstone shakedown

Perez during Cadillac's Silverstone shakedown

Cadillac

January 27, 2026

Cadillac’s Formula 1 project has officially moved from theory to reality, and its expectations remain deliberately modest.

After completing its first shakedown at Silverstone and joining the rest of the field for the opening days of 2026 testing in Barcelona this week, the American team’s new driver line-up has been clear-eyed about what success looks like in year one.

“We are being realistic,” Valtteri Bottas told Motor Sport in an interview in March’s issue. “The main thing is to get a reliable car to start with and finish the races, and try not to be last, and that’s already a starting point.”

Cadillac arrived in Spain having already logged its first miles at Silverstone, a major milestone for a team built from scratch under F1’s sweeping new technical regulations.

Now running alongside established outfits for the first time, the focus has shifted from launch deadlines to learning curves.

The team’s initial driver pairing of Bottas and Sergio Perez brings 16 grand prix victories and experience across six established teams, a deliberate strategy, according to team principal Graeme Lowdon.

“We prioritised not just experience, but experience with multiple championship-winning teams,” Lowdon explained.

“When you bring in a new team, the driver plays a huge role in gelling the engineering group and the garage together. We don’t have to show them where the paddock turnstile is.”

Both drivers are returning to full-time F1 seats after spending 2025 away from the grid.

Bottas acted as Mercedes‘ reserve following his exit from Sauber, while Perez stepped aside after losing his Red Bull seat at the end of 2024.

Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac

Bottas expects tough start, but lots of progress

Cadillac

But they both insist Cadillac was a proactive choice rather than a last resort.

“For me, F1 was always the priority,” Bottas said. “I really believed in this project, and it felt like I was a priority for them as well.”

Perez echoed that view, revealing he began working with Cadillac as soon as his contract was signed last summer.

“Once it became clear they were coming into F1, it was pretty straightforward,” he said. “This was a project that made me enthusiastic to come back.”

From the archive

The timing of Cadillac’s entry is widely seen as advantageous, coinciding with new chassis, power units and tyres across the grid in 2026 — an unusual reset that may reduce the typical performance gap facing new teams.

“We all start from zero anyway,” Perez said. “The regulation changes are huge, especially on the engine side, and that will impact driving styles a lot.”

Still, expectations inside the garage remain intentionally conservative.

Points are an ambition rather than an assumption, with progress — rather than position — the key internal benchmark.

“Cadillac should be the team that progresses the most throughout the year,” Perez said.

Bottas struck a similar note, underlining that Barcelona represents the beginning of a longer process rather than a verdict on competitiveness.

“It’s not that much about where we start,” he said. “It’s about where we end up.”

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