proven so difficult, conceding that it “definitely hasn’t come my
way”. The Finn spent last season off the grid as Mercedes’ reserve
driver before being signed by Cadillac to race alongside Sergio
Pérez. So far, Bottas has regularly found himself adrift of the
Mexican, losing 5-2 to Pérez in both qualifying and races this
season. Pérez has settled into the new F1 outfit more quickly than
Bottas, while the latter has already had to bat away rumours of
being dropped – rumours Cadillac was quick to dismiss. Bottas has
retired from three of the seven completed rounds and recorded a
best finish of 13th in China, with multiple factors working against
the veteran. According to Bottas, he has struggled with the general
feel of the car due to inconsistencies in its setup, while the lack
of a race in April also worked against him. Asked if factors like
car set up and brake issues have caused his difficult start to the
year, Bottas explained to select media, including RacingNews365 :
“I would say so. “It definitely hasn’t come my way yet, and a lot
of it is the inconsistency with the setup. Even some parts of the
car quite often feel different to what you expect. “Also, at the
beginning of the year, having such a big gap between the races and
not spending that much time on track hasn’t helped. “But I’m
really hoping that now we get into a better flow, a better rhythm,
understand the issues we’ve been having with the car better, and go
from there. So, it’s still a long way to go.”