Steiner Questions Bottas's Motivation at Cadillac: Who Will Be Replaced?

Guenther Steiner, former Haas team principal, has launched a scathing critique of Valtteri Bottas. Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast during the summer break, Steiner assessed Bottas's performance at Cadillac in 2026 as a significant downturn. In his view, Bottas appears to have "given up" and is the prime candidate to be replaced if the American outfit decides to alter its driver lineup.

Steiner, known for his blunt style, gave Bottas a D grade in his evaluation of the 2026 grid. Meanwhile, teammate Sergio Perez received a C grade. Steiner believes Perez has shown more effort and consistency, despite the Cadillac car often being unreliable and slow.

"I think we have to put him in a D. Perez is just better than him at the moment. What Perez tries to do, I think Valtteri has given up a little bit, it looks like," Steiner said. Statistics support this assessment: in the first 11 races, both Bottas and Perez have failed to score points, but Perez leads 9-6 in qualifying duels.

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Steiner also highlighted Bottas's waning motivation. "He probably expected something different, but not this. Now it's like, 'Hell yeah, I'm driving an F1 car, but I had a good job as a reserve driver at Mercedes. I was last as a reserve driver because I didn't participate, and now I have to make all this effort to be last,'" he quipped.

Nevertheless, Steiner stressed that Cadillac's primary focus should be on car development. However, if management decides a driver change is necessary, he believes Bottas would be the one to go. This criticism adds pressure on Bottas, a driver with 10 Grand Prix wins to his name.

With performances yet to improve, Bottas's future in F1 is once again in question. Can he turn things around in the second half of the season? Or is this the beginning of the end with Cadillac? We'll have to wait and see.