Cadillac's F1 braking issues persist: ‘I had to ease off and coast during the second lap’

“I had to begin implementing lift-and-coast on lap two,” Bottas shared. “Eventually, things settled down and I didn’t need to use lift-and-coast for a while, but then it returned.”

When queried if this race served as a trial for the brake enhancements, the Cadillac driver tempered his response: “We finished with both cars. It required management, but I suspect most teams would have to employ some form of management here.

Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Racing

“I believe the problem is nearly resolved. We should be in good shape for the remainder of the year, and the design for next year should be considerably different.”

The lift-and-coast strategy does not account for Bottas’ poor pace at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, as the Finn was nearly lapped by teammate Sergio Perez – his time deficit was 96 seconds at the finish, translating to an average loss of 1.6 seconds per lap.

Bottas struggled to understand it. “No pace whatsoever in the first stint, I mean, we’re talking about a second a lap,” he lamented. “It was pretty much the same situation throughout the race.

“I was receiving all the feedback from the team about where I might be able to gain time on the laps. I was attempting everything possible. If I’m lacking speed on the entry or mid-corner, I can adjust, but then I lose time on the exit or at another phase of the corner.

“So, yeah, it’s a bit puzzling. The only thing I can mention is that the ride was particularly poor today, like a significant change from what we had. So, we’ll need to investigate.”

Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Racing

And Bottas isn't particularly hopeful for the upcoming United States Grand Prix. “We know it’s going to be another challenging race, but hopefully an improvement over this one,” he remarked. “It feels like we underperformed here somewhat; we were significantly off the pace during the race.”

Sergio Perez might actually contest that view, even after finishing 48 seconds behind Fernando Alonso in Singapore.

“We had very strong pace today,” the Mexican stated. “We were quite solid out there. Operationally, that’s what matters right now, and the team performed exceptionally well. We should be pleased with that.

“We just need an extra second, or a second and a half, to be competitive. We had the Astons behind us for the entire first stint. We’re just missing that second in the car, and then we can start to compete with the others.”

Cadillac has six more grands prix to try and achieve its first top-10 finish, and avoid concluding its inaugural F1 season without points.