Rumors about V. Bottas’s future began circulating after the Canadian GP. It was suggested that Cadillac is not completely satisfied with the experienced Finn’s results in the team’s debut season.
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Although neither V. Bottas nor S. Perez have scored points this year, the Mexican more often has the advantage in their head-to-head battles.
In qualifying, V. Bottas trails S. Perez 5:6, although in the last three qualifying sessions the Finn has outpaced his teammate. In the British GP qualifying, he achieved his best result of the season so far – 18th place.
In race head-to-head statistics, S. Perez also leads, but in the overall championship standings, V. Bottas is higher due to his 13th place finish at the Chinese GP. That was the only race where the Finn finished ahead of S. Perez when both Cadillac drivers reached the finish.
Reliability issues also did not help V. Bottas’s statistics – in the last six races, he failed to finish four times.
According to G. Steiner, the difference between the drivers is not only due to results. He believes that S. Perez is currently showing a greater desire to prove his worth.
“Perez is simply better than him right now. I think Valtteri has somewhat given up.
I think Perez wants to prove something, while Valtteri’s attitude is more like: ‘What can I prove with the equipment I have?’ Checo is always trying to give 100 percent,” G. Steiner said on “The Red Flags” podcast.
The former F1 team principal believes that if Cadillac decides to change one of their drivers before next season, the choice would fall on V. Bottas.
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“Right now, they first need to improve the car and see where they stand. But if they had to change one driver, I think they would change Valtteri. His results are not that good.
“I think Valtteri expected it to be difficult, but not this difficult,” said G. Steiner.
Bottas himself is not worried about his future and categorically rejects rumors that he could become part of the so-called F1 “silly season” this year.
According to the Finn, when the rumors appeared, Cadillac representatives immediately contacted him and assured that the information was not true.
“The most important thing is that I know my situation. As soon as we saw those rumors, the team immediately reached out to me and said they were completely false. I also know my situation, so everything is fine.
“This is nothing new in my career. Every driver faces such things at some point. So there will be no ‘silly season’ for me,” said V. Bottas.
Before their debut F1 season, Cadillac recruited V. Bottas and S. Perez as two experienced drivers to help the new team establish itself in the championship.
The contract duration was not officially announced, but it was widely reported that both drivers signed multi-year contracts. However, it is not ruled out that the contracts were made on a “1+1” basis – guaranteeing the first season, with the option for the second year activated only if certain conditions are met.
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