Valtteri Bottas faced yet another disappointing outcome at the 2026 F1 Monaco GP. The Cadillac team faced brake temperature issues throughout the weekend, which eventually led to an untimely retirement and DNF for the Finnish driver — Cadillac’s third in its inaugural season.
This concern led the team to pit Bottas on the first lap, where he switched from the soft tyres to mediums. Speaking in the print media pen after his DNF, Bottas explained the reasoning behind this decision.
Valtteri Bottas shares lap 1 pit stop at 2026 F1 Monaco GP was always the plan
Usually, a first-lap pit stop can indicate an abrupt issue with the car itself, such as a damaged rear wing. However, the Cadillac driver made it clear that that wasn’t the case. In fact, he shared that it was always the “plan” to stop on lap 1 and make the transition from softs to mediums as temperatures were going to be rising during the race.
“No, the plan was to stop on lap one. Because we also knew that the brakes will be a concern. So that was taking a gamble on the strategy, but also chasing clean air at the hottest part of the race.“
Despite the measures to manage the car’s temperature through lift-and-coast, Cadillac’s efforts seemed futile as temperatures continued to rise. Ultimately, they decided to retire the car to prevent any further damage.
“But even with that and management, since the first lap, it just wasn’t enough. Temps were rising, even with the increased lift and coast. So, we had to stop the car.”
Cadillac finds another weakness following Monaco GP weekend
Despite being faced with a DNF at the 2026 F1 Monaco GP, Bottas was satisfied to uncover another weakness with the car early on.
“So, obviously, we found another weakness that we’re going to fix.”
When questioned about how the overheating starts, he revealed that it begins with smoke, burning the internal components of the brake system, while the temperatures continue to rise.
“It starts with the smoke. But then, once everything is burned inside, the smoke disappears, but the temps keep rising. And then, there’s other concerns, like brake failure, if we keep going.”
Cadillac expected a 50% chance of surviving the Monaco GP
Due to the car predominantly being on the heavier side, Bottas highlighted the problems which significantly impacted braking performance right from the start.
“We knew that we had a 50% chance of making the race. But, sadly, it wasn’t the good 50% today,” he reflected, noting that they fell on the wrong side of that probability. Despite the setback, the driver stressed the importance of “we learn from it.”
Moving forward, Cadillac’s focus will be on finding solutions to “cool the brakes more” to mitigate the risks of any unforeseen retirements from future races.
Along with brakes, Valtteri Bottas highlighted that the “ride of the car” has been a hot topic for the team, where uneven surfaces on the track have been causing difficulties with the handling of the car.
The team’s focus is dedicated to refining both the aerodynamic and mechanical aspects of the vehicle to ensure they are better prepared for Barcelona.
“The ride of the car is a pretty big topic at the moment for us. We seem to be losing a lot with bumps, kerbs, cambers on the track. So, we’re going to keep working not just on the aero side, but the mechanical side as well.”
