It’s been a long time coming, but the Cadillac F1 team’s official race debut came and went last week at the Australian Grand Prix. There was a lot of drama in the first race of the season. For starters, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll were all eliminated in qualifying. As for Cadillac, both its cars lag behind all other competitors.
In the end, one of the Cadillac F1 race cars took 16th placeth while others failed to finish the race.
Sergio Perez started the race in the 18th minuteth place and managed to climb two positions before crossing the finish line. At one point Perez was in the thick of things thanks to the safety car coming out (almost so), but couldn’t keep up with competitors on fresher tyres. Perez ultimately finished three laps from first place George Russel. Completing the first race is an important achievement for the new team, which is managed entirely by Perez.
Unfortunately, the car driven by Valtteri Bottas failed to do so. Bottas started from last position in the 19th minuteth and needed to pit early due to a problem with the steering wheel, and would retire on lap 16 due to fuel problems.
After the race, Perez reflected on his first trip with journalists from motorsports.
“The first step is complete,” he said. “As a team, finishing the race was great. It’s a shame Valtteri couldn’t finish, but overall it was a great race. Great recovery at the weekend, we started with a lot of problems.”
Regarding car No. 11 driven by Perez, Cadillac F1 team principal Graeme Lowdon acknowledged the need to speed up. We’re eager to see if they can do it at the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix.
