Sergio Perez Issues Angry Cadillac Verdict After Practice Outing

F1 has expanded to eleven teams for the 2026 season, and new entrants Cadillac are looking for as strong of a start as possible.

Sergio Perez | IMAGO / Eibner

When Sports Illustrated's Zach Koons talked to team principal Graeme Lowdon in regards to Cadillac's driver signings, he described Valtteri Bottas and Sergio 'Checo' Pérez as drivers with 'lot of experience' and 'motivating and encouraging' Cadillac's other drivers in their program.

Testing in Bahrain showed a team that, if anything, was able to get the laps needed to take away all the most important information they would need ahead of the start of the 2026 season.

While the race week started well for Cadillac, thanks to Bottas' penalty from 2024 being rescinded, fellow Formula One veteran Pérez had mixed feelings as to how both he and the car performed in Friday's practice sessions.

Sergio Pérez states Cadillac must get rid of 'little issues'

Both Bottas and Pérez were revealed by Cadillac alongside each other in August of 2025. | Cadillac F1 Team

Practice Session 1 saw Mexican legend Sergio Pérez at the back of the pack, only ahead of the two Aston Martin cars—who have problems of their own—while Valtteri Bottas was three places in front, putting his car P17.

The follow-up session was much of the same, as Pérez did not register a time, and Bottas put his car in 19th, again in front of the Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

Pérez started off his post-practice interview with some honesty on where he thinks the American team stands:

"Unfortunately we had too many issues out there... the main thing really [out] of today [was] not getting enough running. Hopefully tomorrow can be more straightforward – hopefully we can try the tyres and see what we have."

While Cadillac has put innovation at the forefront of its development cycle, it seems like the team based out of Fishers, Indiana, will have to go through the growing pains every other Formula One startup goes through before reaching its full potential.

A day of firsts, fueled by the team’s effort. Ready to work towards what’s ahead 💪 pic.twitter.com/972hcdWwo0

— Cadillac Formula 1 Team (@Cadillac_F1) March 6, 2026

Perez ended off by setting a clear goal for his team over the next couple of days, with the next practice session vital to determining the fate of the team at Albert Park.

“We really need some data for tomorrow... for now it’s just very important to be able to progress through and stop having these little issues that are costing us a lot of track time.”

Pérez on his team so far

It would be easier for F1's newest team if the weather were consistent over the weekend in order to complete all the data testing they need. Luckily for Bottas and Pérez, it seems like there will be good weather all around, with a 5% chance of rain on Saturday but a dry Sunday to complete their first race.