Sergio Perez doesn’t sound like a driver easing himself into a new project; he sounds like someone who’s already run out of patience for the avoidable stuff.
Cadillac’s debut year was always going to be a slog, particularly in a regulation reset season where even established operations have been caught out. But after another points-less weekend, Perez has zeroed in on what he believes is keeping the team from turning incremental pace into anything that actually shows up on Sunday: execution.
“I’m impatient at the moment with the operational side,” Perez said in Canada. “I think it’s something that we have to improve, and we are in a massive hurry… because we are not maximising the results.
“Today [in the race], for example. Yesterday in qualifying, we had issues again operationally. I think we are making progress on performance, which is very positive, but on the operational side, is something that we are lacking tremendously, and we have to really find our way for the European season.”
That’s a pretty pointed diagnosis, and it’s telling he’s drawing a line between car potential and the team’s ability to consistently access it. In other words: Cadillac might not be quick enough yet, but it’s also leaving too much on the table even within the limitations it has.
So far in 2026, only two teams remain scoreless: Cadillac and Aston Martin. The difference is that Aston Martin’s struggles have come as something of a surprise in the wake of its new Honda power unit, while Cadillac is going through the steep, unglamorous “first time doing everything” phase that every new entrant talks about — usually more quietly than this.
The raw results underline how narrow Cadillac’s current window is. The best finish the team has managed to date is Valtteri Bottas’ 13th place in China, with Perez 15th in the same race. That’s close enough to the fringes to make mistakes feel especially costly. When you’re fighting around P10–P15 on merit, a slow decision, a procedural hiccup, or a muddled qualifying run plan doesn’t just sting — it’s the difference between relevance and anonymity.
And that’s why Perez is pushing now, ahead of the European run where the calendar compresses, the paddock becomes less forgiving, and the spotlight tends to sharpen. Cadillac also can’t ignore the broader context: an American team with an American audience increasingly invested in seeing tangible progress. “It’s early days” buys you time, but not indefinitely, and Perez isn’t interested in waiting for the goodwill to expire before sounding the alarm.
Team principal Graeme Lowdon didn’t try to bat the comments away. If anything, he leaned into the reality that the learning curve is partly self-inflicted by newness, while insisting there has been genuine movement on performance.
“Even challenging races can yield useful learnings, and that’s what we can take away from this weekend,” Lowdon said. “Overall, it’s been our most competitive weekend to date. We introduced some further upgrades, which have given us another step up in performance and we were able to race on pace in the midfield.
“Operationally, we know where we need to improve, but everything we do is being done for the first time. We’ll address as we go into the European season.”
It’s a sensible, composed response — and it also quietly validates Perez’s point. Cadillac can bring upgrades, find a step, and start to look more like a midfield participant, but none of that matters if the basics aren’t sharp enough to convert.
That tension between “we’re building” and “we’re wasting” is where the internal pressure starts to creep in. It’s one thing to accept that a new car concept needs time. It’s another to accept repeatable procedural errors when the margins are so fine. By speaking as plainly as he has, Perez is doing two things: protecting his own credibility and forcing urgency into an organisation that can’t afford to normalise missteps.
Interestingly, despite Cadillac’s scoreline and his frustration, Perez has been adamant his driving has been up to scratch — and he’s framed his return to the grid as something he’s already personally justified.
“I’m very happy with my performances, with my level of driving,” he said. “I’m happy I came back and prove it to myself that I’m one of the best out there.
“So that to me is really nice, and I’m very happy with the level of driving I’m doing.”
Drivers often say variations of that when results aren’t coming, but in Perez’s case it lands with a sharper edge: it’s not just reassurance, it’s positioning. If Cadillac’s season becomes a story about growing pains and missed opportunity, he’s making it clear he doesn’t intend to be filed under “part of the problem”.
The European stretch will tell the tale. If Cadillac’s upgrades are genuinely moving the car into midfield contention, then operational tidiness becomes the multiplier — the thing that turns “better” into points. If it doesn’t, the noise will only grow, because Perez has already set the expectation internally and publicly: the team’s next gains have to come from the pit wall and the processes, not just the parts bolted onto the car.
