Cadillac concluded its technical update course hosted by Ferrari. In Imola, the U.S. squad had the opportunity to develop its mechanics alongside those from Maranello, taking advantage of a collaboration stemming from the Power Unit supply.
Leading operations today were not Team Principal Graeme Lowdon or Team Manager Peter Crolla, who left for England the night before, leaving Xavi Marcos, head of engineering and ex-Leclerc race engineer, in charge. Alessandro Fusaro, currently Leclerc’s chief mechanic at Ferrari, apparently oversaw the mechanics’ operations.
The atmosphere in the garage was celebratory. Both Cadillac and Ferrari personnel were in high spirits, and the two teams collaborated in perfect harmony.
On track, Sergio Pérez covered another 447 km, equivalent to 91 laps of the Imola circuit. It was clear the Mexican driver was eager to get back into an F1 car, as he pushed hard from the first laps despite the cold tarmac.
The only new element in today’s program was a 24-lap long run. Checo completed the stint with excellent consistency, posting an average lap time of 1:22.476, always on hard tires—the only compound used by the team over the two days of testing.
The fastest lap of the session was an impressive 1:17.27. Considering he ran on hard tires with cool ambient conditions (18°C), it seemed Pérez wanted to gauge his current performance, and the results suggest that the Red Bull nightmare is firmly behind him.
Unlike yesterday, the day ended well before sunset. At 15:11, Pérez returned to the garage for the final time, the mechanics brought the black SF-23 inside, and the session was declared finished.
Sergio Pérez appeared to be in a hurry, because less than twenty minutes later, he left on his electric blue Alfa Tonale, leaving about a dozen fans—including some from Mexico—disappointed at the paddock exit.
Cadillac’s countdown clock now marks -112 days until FP1 of the 2026 Australian Grand Prix. Team Principal Graeme Lowdon stated that the team is on schedule. Next, Cadillac plans to perform the fire-up in December and hit the track in January with its first official F1 car.
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