Another DNF for Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas: ‘At times, we struggle to comprehend it’

Cadillac still needs to resolve its reliability and performance issues, but this may not happen until next year's challenger is on the circuit.

“I would say it's impossible to gauge a year like this with so many problems,” Bottas added. “And the issue is sometimes we don't fully grasp them. So it’s really still a steep learning curve ahead.

“There have been numerous factors behind the scenes that perhaps not everyone notices, such as brake management and the challenges associated with that. But simultaneously, as I mentioned, there have been certain issues that we’re struggling to understand.”

Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Racing

Nonetheless, both cars had brief moments of competitiveness alongside the Aston Martins and Williams during the Austin race, although they ultimately fell behind. Perez concluded the race approximately 20 seconds behind Fernando Alonso, Alexander Albon, and Carlos Sainz, which was a notable improvement; Bottas was merely five seconds behind his teammate when he retired.

“At times it was quite encouraging to see that we were relatively close to some other cars in terms of pace,” Bottas noted, while Perez felt his strategy impeded his performance. “Unfortunately, I believe that the timing of the blue flags cost us a lot of race time, because as we pitted, we essentially went straight into the blue flags,” the Mexican driver stated. Data indicates he was lapped on lap 28 after pitting on lap 23.

Regarding why Cadillac appeared more competitive than usual in Texas, the duo had differing explanations.

“I think it's very, very dependent on the track,” Perez opined. “In the race, I was surprised that we were a bit closer in that aspect.”

“I think what helped today was the cloud cover,” Bottas observed. “It was slightly cooler today; we know we struggle in high temperatures, so that was beneficial. However, I honestly thought it would be more challenging for us here. That’s why it’s somewhat positive, and Mexico should hopefully be a bit better for us.”

While Cadillac won't be as affected by its lack of downforce at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, warm conditions—around 26C ambient—and sunshine are currently predicted for both qualifying and the race.