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As many anticipated, the overall assessment of Cadillac’s first Formula 1 campaign so far is a mixed one — not disastrous, but certainly not flawless either. Launching a new F1 team from scratch in the modern era is a monumental challenge, even with substantial collective expertise within the team. The complexity of today’s F1 operations far exceeds that of 2016, when Haas entered the grid with considerable support from Ferrari.

Given the immense dependence on historical data and intellectual property, starting with a blank canvas is a daunting job, even under new regulations such as those coming in 2026. Merely assembling the first car and getting it ready for pre-season testing in January was a significant hurdle, one Cadillac managed better than established outfits like Aston Martin and Williams, both of which faced delays.

The true test began with the season opener in Australia — the team’s first time running two cars under the tight confines of an F1 weekend schedule. Now that the championship is in full swing, with races arriving rapidly, the challenge has become not just reaching each event and resolving issues as they appear, but also ensuring a steady flow of upgraded components moves smoothly from design to production to the race track.

Every research and development effort has to be carefully managed within the FIA’s cost cap and the aerodynamic testing restrictions that limit wind tunnel usage, forcing teams to prioritise development projects. This ongoing process means the team is continually learning and adapting.

Cadillac has arguably exceeded early expectations, and much of that credit goes to Sergio Perez. After parting ways with Red Bull and taking a forced 12-month break, the Mexican driver returned rejuvenated. As he himself admits, he has often driven beyond the car’s current capabilities.

The streets of Monaco provided a perfect platform for Perez to display his experience. He narrowly missed advancing to Q2 in qualifying and survived a chaotic Grand Prix, benefiting from others’ retirements and penalties to initially finish P10. However, a grid-positioning error before the late red flag cost him a valuable point through a post-race penalty.

Monaco may have been an exception, but recently Cadillac has shown progress, at times outperforming a struggling Aston Martin at various circuits. Still, the gap to the midfield pack — let alone the front-runners — remains substantial on conventional tracks. Operational and reliability challenges have inevitably surfaced, and recent races have highlighted how crucial real-world experience is in addressing and overcoming such issues.

In Montreal, Perez suffered a highly visible right-front suspension failure captured on his onboard camera. The team later confirmed it resulted from a one-off assembly mistake in the garage, not a design flaw requiring redesign.

During the Monaco weekend, both drivers experienced brake overheating — a common issue on a track with heavy braking zones and limited cooling straights. Quick modifications to the brake ducts were implemented for qualifying, which seemed to help Perez. However, Valtteri Bottas retired early, his car enveloped in smoke from the front brakes.

Bottas faced further difficulties in Barcelona. Although he was more comfortable with his car during Friday’s sessions, a brake problem in FP3 sent him off track, fortunately into gravel rather than barriers. The resulting floor damage forced him to use older aerodynamic components for qualifying and the race, where he retired early as a precaution.

“The weekend started well,” Bottas told Road & Track. “I was pretty happy on Friday and thought we’d finally have a clean weekend with the car performing at 100%. But that changed with the FP3 issue. Two DNFs in a row isn’t ideal, so reliability is still a major talking point for us.”

The focus now is on learning from such setbacks. Having two seasoned drivers has accelerated Cadillac’s learning curve, both bringing extensive knowledge from their previous F1 experiences.

In Barcelona, Perez managed to complete another full race distance, finishing 14th and as the last classified runner — though to his credit, he would have ended ahead of both Aston Martin drivers, who failed to finish.

Discussing the race with Road & Track, Perez said, “Whenever we run longer than 15 laps, we struggle with a massive drop-off. We understand what’s causing it and know how to fix it, but it’ll take a few races. The positive is that we’re aware, and Barcelona is the perfect track to highlight weaknesses, so that was encouraging.”

As the season progresses, the team continues to gather valuable data. Each completed race contributes to the development of crucial updates and enhancements.

“It’s definitely good information for the team,” said Perez. “We just need to make sure we capitalise on it. We’re bringing a major upgrade package for Austria, and I hope it’ll put us back into the midfield mix.”

Bottas also expects improvements from the upcoming updates but remains cautious. “We’ve got new parts coming for the next race, so hopefully it’ll be better,” he said last weekend. “So far, everything we’ve added has worked, so I’m hopeful we can close the gap in Austria. But the main concern, again, is reliability. Two DNFs in a row — it doesn’t matter how fast the car is if you can’t finish.”