Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas had a rough outing in the team’s first home race at the 2026 F1 Miami GP, qualifying 19th and finishing 18th. The Finn was last of the finishers, two laps down, and not helped by a mishap with the pit speed limiter that resulted in a penalty.
After pitting during the early Safety Car period for soft tyres, Bottas made his second stop on lap 20. He was then cited for speeding in the pits and given a drive-through penalty. Bottas cited an unusual reason for the penalty: the pit limiter button wouldn’t fully engage.
Bottas’ F1 Miami GP plagued by gremlins
“Yes, I pitted early. And also the drive-through penalty—that was speeding in the pit lane. I pressed the pit limiter button, but apparently not hard enough. We’re still lacking a bit of feedback on some of the buttons, so another hour of wasted working.
“It’s been a known issue, we just haven’t got the new buttons yet. Hopefully the next race we’ll have them. But, yeah, it’s one of the things that happens when you start as a new team.
“I think we’re still struggling a bit with the quality of certain parts. So, yeah, that’s something to look into.”
Bottas also received a warning late for ignoring blue flags, which he insisted after the race he had not. Despite the issues with other wheel components, he attested that the blue flag indicator was fine: “I saw the blue flags because it comes on the wheel, so it’s pretty easy.”
Bottas pressing forward for Cadillac: “this is what I signed up for”
The Finnish veteran also conceded issues with his Cadillac maintaining proper grip in the tyres. He was unable to advance beyond the back of the grid despite switching to soft tyres in his middle stint, and sank to two laps down by the end.
“It’s not frustration. This is what I signed up for. I know it’s going to be difficult times, but it was a tough race. After the qualifying yesterday, I felt OK with the fresh tyre. But as soon as the tyre degrades, the pace was pretty bad. Also, compared to Checo, for me, we need to have a good look.
“I think we’re still struggling a bit with the quality of certain parts. So yeah, lots of things to look into.”
