Valtteri Bottas gives a telling response to the sudden Cadillac dismissal

When Bottas talks about Lowdon, the Finn refers to him as a friend. “He's done a great job setting up the team, getting ready to be on the grid in the first race. I take my hat off to him for that,” Bottas told GPblog, among others, when asked about Lowdon's abrupt sacking.

The decision surprised Bottas, just as it did many others in the Formula 1 paddock. “I think a big change like this in the middle of the season is always initially surprising. But, yeah, then speaking with Dan (Towriss, CEO) and others, all the reasons for this change were explained to me, and I respect that. I think if we just keep everything the same, we're never going to progress, so we're going to change some things.”

It was an interesting choice of words from Bottas, which GPblog immediately noted. The website asked whether respecting the decision implied that he did not agree with it.

What followed was a brief silence. After some thought, Bottas said: “I respect it. I think, like with any change, time will always tell you know, what change is good, what change is bad. So I can't predict the future.”

Bottas could confirm that something needed to change at Cadillac. “Some issues we've had have been just dragging along, but I didn't maybe quite expect it to be such a big change. I was maybe expecting more stuff happening at the factory and stuff.

One issue Cadillac has been dealing with for some time is overheating brakes, which has also led to several DNFs. Bottas thinks the lack of a solution “probably” contributed to the dismissal.

As for Bottas himself, his future lies with Cadillac, with his contract running through 2027. With Marcin Budkowski replacing Lowdon, he is not worried about an early departure. “Not in the near future, no. I'm still all set, obviously, for next year. But then, yeah, eventually we're going to talk about what is happening beyond ‘27. But yeah, that's not yet."