Valtteri Bottas has given an insight into the type of team he has found during his early experiences of working with the new Cadillac outfit, having gained some mileage in their 2026 car at the Barcelona Shakedown.<\/p>\n
After being announced as part of the American squad\u2019s driver line-up \u2013 alongside Sergio Perez<\/a> \u2013 back in August of last year, Bottas<\/a> embarked on his first day with the team in December<\/a>, where he spent time with colleagues and underwent a seat fit.<\/p>\n Now, several weeks on, the Finn has got behind the wheel of the outfit\u2019s first-ever F1 car during the Barcelona Shakedown, where the team have joined most of their competitors in stress-testing their 2026 machines.<\/p>\n As well as being a new era for Cadillac<\/a>, it also marks the beginnings of Bottas\u2019 return to the grid, having spent 2025 on the sidelines as a Mercedes<\/a> reserve driver.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great to be back, also with this brand-new team in the sport \u2013 it\u2019s a really, really unique situation,\u201d Bottas explained after the opening morning of the Barcelona Shakedown. \u201cI really enjoyed getting back on track \u2013 this was the first time I drove this car, so it\u2019s just good to be out there.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously performance-wise I wouldn\u2019t say much yet \u2013 the main thing is we\u2019ve got some running done. At the end we got a little bit longer run in, so these are the first steps of debugging and getting everything to work better.\u201d<\/p>\n Reflecting further on the first morning of action in Barcelona, the 36-year-old continued: \u201cIt was cold! Early morning, it\u2019s quite hard to get the tyres to work here, as we know. As the temperature picked up things got a bit better.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had some issues throughout the day. Like I said, it\u2019s debugging \u2013 that\u2019s why we\u2019re here, and it seems like every team had some issues. It\u2019s just now really figuring out those and then getting more and more running each day. But, like I said, it\u2019s just great to be here and in the car.\u201d<\/p>\n Bottas went on to assess how he has found his early experiences of working with Cadillac, with the Finnish racer praising the squad for the work they have put in so far as they prepare for their debut season in the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cI really enjoy everything so far with the team,\u201d he explained. \u201cEveryone is looking at things with fresh eyes, with a different angle. We have lots of experience from different teams, and everyone has been working so hard to be here.<\/p>\n \u201cStarting from zero, it\u2019s a bigger challenge than what the other teams had, I think. So I\u2019m very proud of everyone so far and I\u2019m enjoying it.\u201d<\/p>\n In terms of the challenge posed by the new regulations<\/a> \u2013 and what the plan will be for the remainder of the Barcelona Shakedown \u2013 Bottas said: \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a big difference to before. The cars handle different; we have a bit less load, especially in the high-speed corners.<\/p>\n