Cadillac's rookie woes: Bottas reveals Miami drive-through was just a button not pressed hard enough

Cadillac's debut season in Formula 1 has been a baptism of fire, and the Miami Grand Prix offered a perfect example of the teething problems a new team faces. Valtteri Bottas received a drive-through penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit – simply because he didn't press the pit limiter button hard enough.

Why it matters:

For a team that joined the grid this year as the 11th outfit, every minor reliability or operational issue compounds the challenge of digging out of the bottom of the field. Cadillac has yet to score a point, and while the MAC-26 has shown decent race reliability, these small glitches cost precious track position and momentum.

The details:

• Bottas explained that the button lacked sufficient tactile feedback, a known problem. “We’re still lacking a bit of feedback on some of the buttons… we just haven’t got the new buttons yet.” He called it “one of the things that happens when you start as a new team.”
• Beyond the button, Bottas noted a broader quality inconsistency: “Not every part is the same that we put in the car… a bit of a lack of consistency in there, but overall it’s getting better.”
• Teammate Sergio Perez, who finished 16th in Miami, sees progress: “I can see at times… as soon as degradation kicks in, we can be with the midfield. But they are just able to pick up the pace quite a lot.”
• Cadillac sits 10th in the Constructors’ Championship, ahead of Aston Martin only by virtue of Bottas’s P13 in China – a race where only 15 drivers finished.

What's next:

Both Bottas and Perez acknowledge they signed up for a long rebuild. The team is racing to close the gap before the midfield moves further ahead. New button parts should arrive by the next race, a small but necessary step in Cadillac's steep learning curve.