Sergio's Frustration With Cadillac's Lack Of Season Progress.

Sergio Perez is expressing frustration over Cadillac's lack of progress in the 2026 Formula 1 season, stating that the new team must 'rethink its processes'.

The American brand made its debut in the championship this year, but Cadillac is currently at the bottom of the standings without a point after 11 rounds, competing alongside Aston Martin at the back of the field.

Although this was largely expected, Cadillac's approximately 2.5-second gap to the leaders has remained unchanged despite ongoing updates to the MAC-26, including a major one in Austria. However, the upgrades have not matched the impact of those from rival teams, particularly Aston, which moved ahead of Cadillac with its B-spec chassis in Hungary last time. Speaking before the Budapest weekend, Perez, who had already anticipated that the British team would surpass his own, stated: “It has been very challenging, very difficult for us to develop. I think we haven't developed enough.

“We clearly need to rethink all our processes to ensure we can develop much stronger, because in Formula 1, development is crucial.

“I think this is where we are lacking. Being a new team, we haven't developed as much as we would have liked.” As a new team, Cadillac is somewhat limited in this area compared to others because it still relies on purchasing some parts from other companies rather than manufacturing everything itself. “There is some inefficiency and obviously a lack of development because much of it is done through third parties, so we don't have much control,” said Perez. “There is a lot of work behind the scenes to try to address all of that.

“We don't have a clear process in place,” he added. “Many established teams know their development process. They have a very clear method for doing things back and forth.

“For us, there are many challenges we are still discovering and trying to optimize. We need to strengthen that process for better outcomes.”

Cadillac’s issues are worsened by the start of a regulation cycle, making an efficient development timeline more crucial as teams continue to learn the new ruleset.

Perez revealed that the Graeme Lowdon-led team is planning more upgrades in the second half of 2026, which should position it well for its second season in 2027.

“Right now, we are starting to focus on next year,” said Perez. “It’s a balancing act, but no one on the team is satisfied with our current position.”