Cadillac entered the 2026 Formula 1 season expecting to start at the back, but an upgrade package introduced in Austria has already begun to shrink the gap to the lower midfield. At Silverstone the team qualified just half a second ahead of the slowest Haas and only a whisker behind an Alpine, a marked improvement from the opening round in Australia where both drivers were well off the pace of the nearest non‑Aston cars.
The Austrian updates have boosted both one‑lap and race speed, allowing Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas to out‑qualify former midfield rivals such as Lance Stroll and to challenge Aston Martin on track. Perez described Silverstone as “one of our best so far” and highlighted a strong start that kept Haas at bay, while Bottas noted that on hard tyres the Cadillacs felt closer to the midfield pack. Although neither driver has yet scored points, Perez’s lead‑lap finishes in Japan and Monaco and Bottas’s 13th place in China show a clear upward trend.
The team still needs to convert pace into points, and Perez warned that a further upgrade will be essential to break into the points‑paying positions. With the next package on the horizon, Cadillac appears poised to move from back‑marker to genuine midfield contender.
