Further signs of progress emerged for the American Cadillac team, which once again reached the finish line with both of its drivers, as Sergio Perez came home 17th and Valtteri Bottas 19th at the Japanese Grand Prix.
More small steps forward
After the opening three rounds of the Formula 1 world championship, the highly anticipated debut season of Cadillac has yet to deliver its first points. However, as the championship now enters a long break until early May, the team can take some encouragement from its performance at Suzuka. For the second consecutive race, following Shanghai, Cadillac managed to bring both cars to the finish, achieving a minimum but important objective in terms of data collection and overall development ahead of the upcoming races.
At Suzuka, both Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas gained positions compared to their qualifying results. The Mexican driver ultimately finished in 17th place and expressed a positive outlook on the team’s progress: “Today was our best race so far,” commented the former Red Bull driver. “We’ve made a lot of progress in a short time, and we can be happy to have brought both cars to the finish once again. We had some issues with fuel delivery in qualifying, but today we felt in control. We were clearly faster than Aston Martin, and we can see that our pace is improving. Hopefully the upgrades we will bring to Miami will allow us to be more competitive.”
Bottas sees room for improvement
Valtteri Bottas was slightly less satisfied with his race, which he finished in 19th position, as he explained the main challenges he encountered throughout the event: “Another double finish is a really good result for the team. I was lacking a bit of performance, which prevented me from competing with the Aston Martins today, so that’s something we need to analyze.”
The Finnish driver also highlighted the strategic choices made during the race weekend: “We tried a different strategy by starting on the hard tyres, but unfortunately it didn’t seem to work. However, throughout the weekend the car felt much cleaner and we had fewer issues. We learned a lot, and that will help us improve for the next race.”
Looking ahead, Valtteri Bottas emphasized the importance of the upcoming break in the calendar: “Now we head into this pause after the first three races with the opportunity to analyze everything we’ve learned so far and spend more time developing the car. The atmosphere within the team is positive, as we are fully focused on preparing for our first home Grand Prix in Miami.”
Despite still being outside the points, Cadillac’s steady improvements and consistent finishes suggest that the team is building a stronger foundation, aiming to become more competitive as the 2026 Formula 1 season progresses.
Do you think the upgrade package scheduled for the Miami Grand Prix will be enough to finally put Cadillac into the fight for their first Formula 1 points?
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