Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Cadillac’s British Grand Prix mattered far more for what it proved than where it finished, as Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas both reached the flag at Silverstone after a run of retirements and gave the team its first full-race read on the upgrade package introduced in Austria.
Perez was classified 15th and Bottas 17th after 52 laps, a modest result on paper but a sharp change from the previous weekend in Austria, where both Cadillacs retired after only four laps with brake fires. After three events with DNFs, simply getting both cars home was a significant step for a team that had spent much of its early season trying to escape the back.
The more important sign was the pace within that result. Cadillac was able to run ahead of Aston Martin and spend parts of the race fighting Haas, suggesting the Austria package is doing more than just improving reliability.
Perez, the former Red Bull driver, said the race was one of Cadillac’s strongest of the season. “Overall it was a good race and probably one of our best so far this season,” Perez said. “We had a really good start and were fighting to hold the Haas behind.”
He made clear, though, that the team still sees this as a platform rather than a breakthrough. “There is some work to do, but we have to keep pushing and hopefully the next package of upgrades will bring us up,” Perez said. “With just a little bit more speed we will really be in the mix with the midfield teams and then we can start to challenge a bit more.”
For Bottas, the main gain was finally turning the upgraded car into a complete race distance. “Number one thing is that we finished the race for the first time after three events with DNFs which is positive,” Bottas said. “It’s also the first race distance we’ve finished with the upgrades so there’s a lot we can learn from both cars on how to optimize the package going forward.”
He said the car’s balance relative to its nearest rivals also looked better across the race, especially on the harder compound. “I think we have improved our pace overall,” Bottas said. “At times especially on the Hard tire, it felt like we were a bit closer to the midfield while keeping a good margin from Aston throughout the whole race.”
That is the shift Silverstone delivered for Cadillac. A week after both cars barely made it beyond the opening laps, the team left with evidence that its first significant update has moved it away from pure damage limitation and toward a genuine lower-midfield fight, with the next development step now carrying real weight in its push toward points contention.