Despite still waiting for its first points finish in Formula 1, confidence remains high inside Cadillac’s garage as the American team continues its debut season in the sport.
For a constructor that only entered Formula 1 a few months ago, expectations are naturally very different compared to long-established teams with years of infrastructure and experience behind them. From the beginning of the 2026 campaign, the focus at Cadillac has been on learning, building a stronger operational foundation and understanding the demands of competing at the highest level of motorsport.
The Miami Grand Prix represented an especially important milestone, serving as Cadillac’s first home race in Formula 1. While the team did not break into the points, the weekend still delivered several encouraging signs, particularly in terms of reliability and data gathering. Most importantly, both cars completed the event without major technical issues, giving the team valuable mileage as it continues to develop its package.
Cadillac sees Aston Martin as the benchmark to chase
Compared to a team like Aston Martin, which despite its established Formula 1 presence has endured a difficult and disappointing start to the 2026 season, Cadillac’s current situation appears far less concerning. After some predictable early growing pains, the American outfit appears to be making gradual progress.
Sergio Perez highlighted the positive aspects of Cadillac’s Miami performance, particularly the opportunity to race wheel-to-wheel against established midfield competitors.
“We’re enjoying racing with the Aston Martins, especially battling Fernando,” Sergio Perez said after the race.
“It’s always a positive experience. He is very aggressive, but always fair. We only struggled with tyre degradation on the hard compound, and looking back, we probably would have chosen the medium tyres instead. That’s something we need to analyze, but at the same time I think understanding this package will be crucial if we want to make further progress in Canada.”
While reliability improvements are clearly encouraging, Cadillac knows the next major step must come in outright pace: “We need to understand this package better and try to bring better solutions,” Sergio Perez continued while discussing the first development parts introduced in Miami – “I think one of the short-term priorities is improving tyre degradation. We have some ideas, but putting everything together will be the biggest task over the next few weeks.”
Even so, optimism remains strong inside the team: “There’s still work to do, but I’m confident we’re moving in the right direction. At times we can compete with the midfield, but they are still able to raise the pace significantly. The season is still long, but obviously we are in a hurry to find performance because we know Aston Martin will improve, and we don’t want to be left behind.”
Valtteri Bottas sees progress despite performance limitations
Valtteri Bottas also addressed Cadillac’s early-season challenges, but the Finnish driver made clear that the current difficulties are not a surprise: “There’s no frustration. I knew what I was getting into. I knew there would be difficult moments,” the former Mercedes driver explained.
Expanding on the team’s weaknesses, Valtteri Bottas reinforced Sergio Perez’s assessment.
“On fresh tyres in qualifying we looked competitive, but as soon as degradation started, our pace became quite weak,” he told reporters – “We’re also struggling with certain components, so there is still a lot of work to do.”
On the updates introduced in Miami, Valtteri Bottas added: “We are making progress in some areas that may not be immediately visible. I think our upgrades worked. Everything is not exactly where it should be yet, but overall we are heading in the right direction.”
Experience key to Cadillac’s Formula 1 project
General Motors president Mark Reuss also underlined how important Cadillac’s experienced driver pairing has been during the team’s first Formula 1 campaign.
“To bring developments to the track every weekend, you need both the human side and the mathematical simulation side. That’s why we rely heavily on Checo and Valtteri to bring their experience, especially at circuits where we have never raced before, such as Miami.”
Team principal Graeme Lowdon also pointed to the value of the weekend’s data collection: “We finished the race with both cars, building on the progress from the Sprint, and we were able to fight with other cars in terms of pace. We know there are areas we need to refine and improve, so we will push even harder. We have massively increased the amount of data we can unlock, and we’ll aim to make further progress in Montreal.”
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