Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Cadillac ended Friday at the Austrian Grand Prix with early proof that its big Red Bull Ring upgrade has moved the MAC-26 forward, but reliability failures on both cars left the team without the mileage it needed to understand the package properly before qualifying.
The clearest positive came from Valtteri Bottas in Free Practice 1. With what several reports described as the most extensive upgrade package in the field, Bottas finished 13th and said the team had seen what it hoped to see. Bottas said in team remarks that “FP1 was positive as we had the upgrades to evaluate in the session, and everything seemed to be working like we expected. I think we’ve made a step on the overall car performance.”
That made the rest of the day more frustrating for Cadillac because neither driver could complete a normal program. Sergio Perez was hit by an electrical problem in both sessions. He stopped near Turn 3 late in FP1, bringing out the red flag after completing 14 laps, then managed only two laps in FP2 before stopping again near Turn 6. That left him with just 16 laps across the whole day.
Perez said the limited running had at least not hidden the car’s promise. Sergio Perez, Cadillac driver, said after the sessions: “It’s been a bit unfortunate. Let’s start with the positives. Valtteri had a very good session in the morning. We could see a bit of light there.” He added that “running was very limited for me today” and that the team would “be changing pretty much everything on the electrical side” overnight so that “tomorrow we can have a clean day because we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Bottas then lost most of FP2 to a separate issue. His car overheated on track and returned slowly to the garage with smoke and sparks visible, ending his session after only six laps. Cadillac Chief Technical Officer Nick Chester said it was caused by a build issue on the floor rather than a failure in the upgrade evaluation itself. Chester said the floor on Bottas’ car had a problem at the mid-front area that let the car run too low, causing the leading edge to rub the ground and ignite a small fire.
Even with the setbacks, Chester said Friday’s limited evidence still suggested Cadillac had found performance. He called it “a tricky day” but said the signs from FP1 showed “we’ve made a bit of a step with it, so that’s good performance wise.” The problem for Cadillac is that the gain now needs to be confirmed in a session that matters.
The shortage of laps meant Cadillac could not complete a proper test of a package it badly needs if it is to edge toward the midfield. Chester said the team had already been “super close to Q2 a few times,” including being six-hundredths short in Monaco, but after Friday’s disrupted running he said Cadillac now needed a “nice, trouble-free FP3” to turn its apparent step forward into a qualifying result.