Other small steps
At the end of the first three rounds of the world championship, with Formula 1 now starting a long break until early May, the debutant and highly anticipated Cadillac team has not yet scored a championship point, but in the last Japanese Grand Prix it still reached the same milestone as Shanghai: that of completing the race with both its drivers. A minimum objective, but still important for the American team in order to collect data ahead of the next races. In Suzuka, moreover, both Perez and Bottas gained a few positions compared to the result obtained in qualifying, with the Mexican finishing in 17° place: “Today was our best race so far – commented the former Red Bull driver – we have made a lot of progress in a short time and we can be happy to have brought two cars to the finish line once again. In qualifying we had some problems with fuel delivery, but today we felt in control. We were clearly faster than Aston Martin and we see that our pace is improving. We hope that the updates we will bring to Miami will allow us to be more competitive.”
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Less satisfied was Valtteri Bottas, who explained the major obstacles faced during a race finished in 19ª position: “Another double finish is a really great result for the team. I was lacking a bit of performance, which prevented me from competing with the Aston Martins today, so it’s an aspect we need to analyze. We tried a different strategy starting with the hard tires, but unfortunately it didn’t seem to work. However, throughout the weekend the car was much cleaner and with fewer problems. We learned a lot, and this will be useful for us to improve ahead of the next race. Now we face this break in the calendar after the first three races with the opportunity to analyze everything we have learned so far and dedicate more time to the development of the car. The atmosphere in the team is positive, as we focus completely on preparing for our first home Grand Prix in Miami.”
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