Sergio Perez has delivered a blunt verdict on Cadillac’s recent reliability struggles, calling the situation “unacceptable” after suffering in Spielberg what he described as his “worst weekend” weekend so far in 2026.
The Austrian Grand Prix was supposed to be an opportunity for Cadillac to showcase progress after introducing a significant aerodynamic upgrade package.
Instead, it quickly turned into another reliability disaster, with both Perez and teammate Valtteri Bottas retiring within the opening four laps after brake overheating problems brought their races to an early end.
For Perez, the double failure was another frustrating chapter in a growing list of setbacks that have prevented Cadillac from building momentum.
‘We took four or five steps backwards’
The brake issues were not obvious during practice, but the combination of hot conditions and running behind other cars created a problem the team could not control once the race began.
The failure came after a series of recent reliability headaches, including Perez’s suspension problem in Montreal and Bottas’ brake pedal issue during practice in Barcelona.
Cadillac’s Austrian weekend was further compromised by lost track time during practice, limiting the team’s ability to extract the full potential from its latest upgrades.
Perez admitted the result was especially painful because the team had expected the new package to represent a step forward – not another setback.
“It's a bit unfortunate what happened today,” said the F1 veteran after last Sunday’s race.
“I think we underestimated the effect of traffic. We've been having issues all weekend – I think it's been the worst weekend. It feels like we took four or five steps backwards.
“So there needs to be a massive process, thinking on how we're doing things, especially when it comes to upgrades, because today what happened was totally unacceptable and very unfortunate as well for the team.
“I'm sure that we will be able to sort it out for coming races.”
For a team still trying to establish itself in Formula 1, every completed race is valuable data. Instead, Cadillac left Austria without meaningful mileage from either car and with more questions than answers.
Reliability frustration overshadows upgrade hopes
While Perez accepted that difficulties were inevitable for a new operation, he made clear that the lack of visible improvement has become the biggest source of disappointment.
The Mexican believes the latest upgrade package could still provide important clues about how to unlock the car’s potential – but only if Cadillac can keep its cars running.
“Of course it is frustrating,” he said. “But the most frustrating thing is not to see progress. I think we always expected these things to occur to a new team, obviously, but I think the frustration comes from the lack of progress.
“So I'm sure that this upgrade will help us to understand a lot of those efficiencies, and I do expect a massive step forward in reliability going to Silverstone.”
Bottas shared Perez’s frustration, admitting the brake failure arrived without warning after encouraging practice running.
“No warning,” he said, quoted by Crash.net. “Everything was under control in practice. We did more than 10 laps in a row, that's normally more than enough to get the peak temperature at the beginning of the race.
“But I think today with the slight increase in temperature, and then with the traffic effect, things just caught on fire, clearly, and already lap 2. So it's a big issue. Obviously, we've got to find a fix for it.”
The Finn also highlighted the damage caused by repeated retirements, explaining that reliability problems are preventing Cadillac from gathering the information needed to improve.
“It's now the third DNF for me in a row, so if we don't finish the races, then we can't really learn much out of the car and the package either,” he added.
“So the priority is now pretty clear in Silverstone, we have to have to finish the race. That's when we can learn. We had new bits in terms of brake cooling for this weekend, but clearly not enough. So just got to keep working on it.”
Bottas admitted Austria represented a low point for the team, despite the promise shown by the upgraded car.
“I think for us that was probably the most disappointing race this season,” he said.
“Both cars out only a few laps in. The only thing we can do is work hard as a team, you know, that's going to be the only solution and way to move forward.”
As Cadillac prepares for this week’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the message from its drivers is clear: performance gains mean little without reliability.
The team’s latest upgrades may have raised hopes, but until Perez and Bottas can consistently finish races, progress will remain frustratingly out of reach.
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