Bottas: Cadillac's focus shifting from debugging to performance runs

Valtteri Bottas reports that the new Cadillac F1 team is rapidly transitioning from its initial debugging phase to focusing on performance development, with the shift expected to accelerate ahead of the season opener in Melbourne. The ten-time Grand Prix winner expresses clear optimism about the team's progress, noting that each track session yields valuable learning and tangible improvements with the all-new car.

Why it matters:

For a brand-new constructor like Cadillac, successfully navigating the initial shakedown and testing phase without major setbacks is a critical first victory. Bottas's indication that the team is already moving past basic problem-solving to performance optimization suggests a smoother-than-expected entry into the sport, which could allow them to start closing the performance gap to the established midfield sooner rather than later.

The details:

• Bottas emphasized the importance of the early running, stating that missing any pre-season test days would have put the team "definitely in trouble" for the Australian Grand Prix.
• The team's initial focus in Barcelona and Bahrain was on reliability, with lap times placing them in the lower midfield. Bottas's best time was a 1m39.150s.
• The driver's excitement stems from incremental, behind-the-scenes gains like smoother gear shifts, cleaner telemetry data, and the resolution of early technical gremlins.
• Bottas confirmed the operational focus is now tilting: "step by step, instead of problem solving and debugging, the focus will turn to performance."
• He described the C100 as "a completely new beast to everyone in the team," underscoring the learning curve for the entire organization.

What's next:

The immediate goal is to be fully prepared for the racing debut in Melbourne. Bottas stated the team must "be ready to go racing" and will actively begin pushing the car more in the final pre-season test sessions to extract performance. The long-term project, as framed by Bottas, involves continuously "finding performance in the next weeks, months and years" to climb the competitive ladder.