Cadillac expects Sepang to provide a significantly tougher test than Baku, despite the encouraging signs shown by the American team in Azerbaijan. The team appears to have slightly reduced its deficit to the midfield, particularly with the more advanced specification of the MAC-26 available to Sergio Pérez, but the Malaysian circuit could expose some of the car’s most persistent weaknesses.
Formula 1 returns to Sepang after almost nine years following the relocation of the Bahrain Grand Prix from its originally scheduled venue at Sakhir. The Malaysian circuit, which was a permanent fixture on the Formula 1 calendar between 1999 and 2017, offers a particularly complete technical challenge with long straights, major braking zones and, above all, an extended sequence of medium and high-speed corners.
Heat, humidity and the possibility of the traditional tropical downpours will make the weekend even more demanding. For Cadillac, the main concerns centre on two areas: temperature management and the MAC-26’s behaviour through faster corners.
Cadillac expects Sepang to expose MAC-26 weaknesses
Team principal Marcin Budkowski admitted that Cadillac is under no illusions about the scale of the challenge awaiting the team in Malaysia.
“We are coming from a more encouraging performance in Baku, but we have no illusions: Sepang will represent a much more difficult challenge for our package,” Marcin Budkowski said. “Managing tyre temperatures through the high-speed sections and on the long straights will be fundamental to our competitiveness.”
The Malaysian weekend is also important for Cadillac’s continuing process of understanding a car that is still at an early stage of its development. The American team is competing in its first Formula 1 season, meaning every circuit with a different combination of characteristics provides valuable information about the strengths and limitations of the MAC-26.
That learning process continues during a demanding Asian triple-header. After Baku and Sepang, Formula 1 will head directly to Singapore, giving Cadillac three very different circuits on which to evaluate its package in quick succession. The unusual placement of Sepang between Azerbaijan and Singapore forms part of the revised 2026 Formula 1 calendar.
Valtteri Bottas highlights heat and high-speed concerns
Valtteri Bottas has also made clear that Cadillac expects the characteristics of Sepang to create difficulties. The Finn identified both tyre overheating and high-speed cornering performance as areas that could limit the team during the weekend.
“We know that when it’s hot we can struggle with tyre temperatures and overheating, and in the fast corners we’re not yet where we would like to be,” Valtteri Bottas said. “Those two aspects could make the weekend difficult.”
Valtteri Bottas also believes qualifying could take on particular importance, with overtaking during the race potentially proving more difficult than might normally be expected at Sepang. Starting position, strategy and execution could therefore become especially important for Cadillac if outright performance leaves the team under pressure.
The combination creates a demanding equation for the MAC-26. Sepang’s long straights require efficiency and strong performance in a straight line, while its faster corners place sustained loads on the tyres and demand confidence in the aerodynamic platform. Those are precisely the areas Cadillac believes could make the Malaysian weekend more difficult than Baku.
Sergio Pérez returns to the scene of his first Formula 1 podium
For Sergio Pérez, however, Sepang also brings back particularly positive memories. The Mexican driver competed in six Malaysian Grands Prix and achieved the first podium of his Formula 1 career at the circuit in 2012.
Driving for Sauber at the time, Sergio Pérez finished second after even threatening to challenge for victory during the closing stages of the race. His return to Malaysia therefore comes with a strong personal connection to one of the defining early moments of his Formula 1 career.
“It’s exciting to return to Sepang after so many years. I have great memories of Malaysia, including my first podium in 2012,” Sergio Pérez recalled.
Despite those memories, Sergio Pérez shares Valtteri Bottas’s concerns over how the Cadillac package could cope with Sepang’s characteristics.
“Malaysia will probably be more difficult for our package because of the high-speed sections and long straights, where we tend to lose ground,” Sergio Pérez said.
Sepang offers Cadillac another important development reference
The weekend will therefore serve two purposes for Cadillac. In the short term, the team will try to build on the more encouraging performance seen in Azerbaijan and maximise its opportunities through qualifying, strategy and execution. In the longer term, Sepang offers another valuable reference point as Cadillac works to understand where the MAC-26 is strongest and where further progress is required.
With high temperatures, fast corners, long straights and unpredictable weather all likely to play a part, the Malaysian circuit presents a very different challenge from Baku. Cadillac arrives knowing that the test may expose its weaknesses more clearly, but every kilometre remains valuable during the team’s first Formula 1 campaign.
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