Cadillac is off to a quietly respectable start to life in F1, and the drivers are anticipating \u201cbig steps\u201d to enable possible points finishes by the summer break.<\/p>\n
Having arrived in F1 as a brand-new entity at the Australian Grand Prix, Cadillac got a car to the finish in Melbourne, before a double finish in China as Valtteri Bottas claimed 13th and Sergio Perez 15th.<\/p>\n
Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas target Cadillac progress<\/p>\n
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Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n Graeme Lowdon\u2019s team has hit the ground running with solid, if unspectacular, finishes in the two races so far.<\/p>\n Coming into the season, expectations weren\u2019t set high: there was absolutely no ill-advised bravado promising the moon and the stars from the get-go, as has tripped up new arrivals in the past (who can forget BAR\u2019s pre-season predictions of race victories in 1999?)<\/p>\n Just finishing races is an achievement at this point, which isn\u2019t a guarantee for any team, as Aston Martin has been proving, and Cadillac<\/a> has managed a baseline of reliability that is most useful for a squad that, more than anything, simply needs mileage and understanding in these early days.<\/p>\n In even better news, despite the MAC-26 seemingly being the slowest car of the 11 on track, the 107 per cent qualifying rule isn\u2019t one that seems to be a concern \u2013 both cars were within four seconds of the polesitter in Australia, and 3.6 seconds in China, with the quicker car being just over two seconds off in Q1 in Shanghai.<\/p>\n For Perez and Bottas, both making their returns to F1 after a year on the sidelines, the two veterans are well-positioned to capitalise upon the potential of the package under them.<\/p>\n Perez\u2019s return has been met with tremendous excitement by the Mexican fans, whose support of the new team isn\u2019t wavering now that it\u2019s clear there won\u2019t be any early surprises in terms of car performance.<\/p>\n \u201cThey know that Cadillac is a project, and that\u2019s why I came here. You know?\u201d Perez said at the Chinese Grand Prix.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause if you don\u2019t have the opportunity to be in the best car, it\u2019s a really good project to be part of, something new to be able to use your experience.<\/p>\n \u201cThey understand that, and they\u2019re fully behind the team, and we all want to see progress. But yeah, they\u2019re fully behind the team and behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n With the joy of seeing the team become reality still fresh, Perez and Bottas are both aware of the extent of the task that awaits them to haul Cadillac forward, but Perez has earmarked a timeline in which he\u2019s hopeful some success can be achieved.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope, by summer break, we\u2019ve been able to score a few points already. It\u2019s obviously a big task, with the gap that we currently have,\u201d he said, having said that the \u201choneymoon is over\u201d after the Australian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n \u201cBut this team, it\u2019s new, but it\u2019s very different from all the other new teams that have come to the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cThis team has all the resources in place and has all the experience as well. There\u2019s a lot of experience in the team. There are a lot of people who have done this for more than 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n Perez\u2019s optimism accelerates that of Cadillac board member and 1978 F1 World Champion, Mario Andretti, who said that he\u2019s hopeful of seeing the American squad fighting for points by the end of the season.<\/p>\n More on Cadillac in F1<\/p>\n Mario Andretti targets top 10 finishes for Cadillac before end of F1 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018Honeymoon over\u2019 \u2013 Perez keen on \u2018big steps forward\u2019 after \u2018incredible\u2019 Cadillac debut<\/a><\/p>\n That experience will play its part in the advancement of consistent upgrades to the MAC-26, which has started the season in an early sign-off specification.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Formula 1, unfortunately, things don\u2019t come quickly, but there are a lot of areas where we will be making big steps in the coming races, operationally and even on the strategy,\u201d Perez said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big one is aero development. But I think it\u2019s going to come. It\u2019s going to be coming quickly, hopefully.\u201d<\/p>\n Bottas agreed with Perez\u2019s optimism, saying that upgrades will come on a regular basis through the next few months, starting with updates this weekend in Japan.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s still a gap to the cars ahead, which we now need to start working on closing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not an easy task, but there\u2019s a lot in the pipeline for the next races. So now we kind of see where we are, and it\u2019s pretty much like we expected.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re planning to have something for almost every race now, so for sure, something for Japan, and then hopefully something bigger after the spring break.\u201d<\/p>\n Given that Cadillac is also having to work on operational areas that are second-nature for the established teams, such as departmental integration, working processes, and general understanding of how everything gels together, the upcoming month-long gap between Japan and Miami will help the new outfit iron out some of the wrinkles.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s actually quite beneficial for us. We have more time to sort things out, because we still have issues,\u201d Bottas said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still haven\u2019t had a trouble-free weekend, and also more time to get more performance. Everyone has been working flat out for months now. So actually, maybe some people have a bit of a breather as well, would be good.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n