Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Cadillac will introduce a second upgrade package on its MAC-26 at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, with changes aimed at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve’s steep kerbs as the new team tries to turn its Miami step forward into a more meaningful gain.
The latest package includes new front brake drums, diffuser trim and winglets, and front torsion bars. Cadillac says the torsion-bar changes are designed to help the car ride the Montreal kerbs better, a significant target on a sprint weekend where track time is limited and teams have to get on top of set-up quickly.
That makes Canada an important test of whether Cadillac’s early-season development can move from encouraging signs to more repeatable performance. The team heads to Montreal still without a point after four races, and Sergio Perez made clear how urgent the next step feels.
Perez, Cadillac driver, said after Miami: "We are in a massive hurry to find performance because we know Aston is going to be improving and we don't want to be left behind."
Cadillac believes it found a real improvement with the first major upgrade it introduced in Miami, where the MAC-26 received a new front wing, floor, diffuser and rear suspension. The team described that package as producing a notable increase in performance, even if the results still showed how incomplete the progress remains. Cadillac was 0.3 seconds short of the Q2 cutoff in sprint qualifying, then 1.7s away on Saturday.
Perez said Miami still offered enough evidence to justify pushing ahead aggressively with another update. "There were definite flashes of real progress," he said. "Now it’s about refining what we have and extracting the real potential in all elements. If we can do this, I believe we’ll be closer to the pack in front."
Team principal Graeme Lowdon also pointed to Miami as proof that Cadillac’s gains are not only coming from parts. Both cars finished the Sprint and the Grand Prix, and the team delivered two pit stops that ranked among the top 10 fastest of the weekend.
Lowdon said that showed Cadillac is on "a strong upward trajectory" operationally as well as technically. With Montreal presenting a very different challenge from Miami, the significance of this weekend is whether Cadillac can make its second upgrade package work quickly enough to convert progress into the kind of performance that finally pulls its rookie car closer to the midfield.