Former F1 team boss Guenther Steiner has questioned whether Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas still possesses the fiery motivation required to drag an uncompetitive car off the back row.
The American outfit’s inaugural F1 campaign has hardly been a fairytale so far, with neither Bottas nor teammate Sergio Perez managing to score a point. Yet Steiner believes the performances of the two veterans have revealed a significant difference in attitude – and one that could ultimately cost Bottas his seat.
The Finn currently trails Perez in both qualifying and race head-to-heads, although he did deliver to Cadillac their best race classification to date thanks to a P13 finish in China.
But four retirements in the last six races have hardly helped Bottas’ cause.
Steiner sees a worrying difference
Steiner, however, believes the problem runs deeper than results, suggesting Bottas has appeared to lose some of the determination being displayed by Perez.
“Perez is just better than him at the moment,” the Italian said, speaking on the Red Flags Podcast.
“What he [Perez] tries to do, I think Valtteri has given up a little bit on it, looks like. I think it’s just like he [Perez] wants to prove something.
“But I think Valtteri is more like the guy that’s said, ‘What can I prove with the equipment I have?’. Checo is trying to give his 100 per cent all the time.”
That assessment makes for uncomfortable reading for Bottas, particularly with Cadillac yet to confirm precisely how its driver line-up will look when it enters its second season.
Steiner believes that if the American operation decides a change is necessary, Bottas would be the obvious casualty.
“I think at the moment they have to get the car better and to see what they are doing,” Steiner said.
“But if they need to change one driver, obviously I think they’re gonna change Valtteri. I mean his results are not as good, and I think Valtteri expected bad, but not this bad.
“Now it’s like, ‘hell yeah! I mean, I’m driving a Formula 1 car, but I did a good job at Mercedes being the reserve driver because I was last as being the reserve driver because I didn’t participate, and now I need to make all this effort to be last.’”
Bottas isn’t losing sleep
Bottas, though, appears considerably less concerned about the speculation than Steiner.
Despite the mounting questions over his performances, the Finn insists he has already received reassurance from Cadillac and has no intention of getting dragged into the traditional F1 ‘silly season’.
“The main thing is I know my situation,” he said ahead of F1’s summer break.
“The team, immediately when we saw the rumours, the team came to me that these are completely false, and I also know what my situation is, so that’s why it’s fine, and it’s nothing new in my career.
“Every driver, at some point, they’re going to go through things like this. So, no silly season for me.”
Cadillac signed Bottas and Perez to spearhead its arrival in F1, with both drivers widely reported to have multi-year agreements.
However, the precise structure of those deals was never publicly confirmed, leaving open the possibility that the second year could depend on performance-related conditions.
For now, Bottas insists his future is secure. Steiner, judging by his latest verdict, clearly isn’t convinced.
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