Cadillac made its Formula 1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix 2026 with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez. Despite reliability issues and Bottas’ early retirement, the team showed promising progress, with Perez finishing 16th in a historic first race weekend.
Cadillac Formula 1 2026 car. | X - @F1
The Formula 1 2026 season got underway last weekend at the Australian Grand Prix, featuring 22 drivers for the first time since 2016. It was the American manufacturer Cadillac who joined the grid as the 11th team, making their debut in the championship. Amid the buzz of the Mercedes and Ferrari battle, let’s take a look at how the newcomers performed in their first-ever F1 weekend.
Cadillac began their season with two experienced drivers behind the wheel, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez. However, unfortunately, only Checo was able to finish the race as Bottas ended his session prematurely. Still, their overall performance was described as “historic” and far ahead of expectations. How? Let’s find out.
Cadillac, running Ferrari power units, showed great spirit in their first outing at Albert Park on Friday, participating in all the three practice session. The initial pace looked promising. However, during FP1 they began experiencing technical issues, with Perez spinning due to an engine-braking problem.
Despite the setback, their performance was still better than expectations. In FP2, the team had a tough time as Checo’s car was not ready to run properly and failed to set a lap time, spending most of the session in the garage. The team suspected a hydraulic leak.
A new era. An eleventh team. 👀
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 6, 2026
Cadillac take to the track for the first time in an F1 race weekend 😏#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/8o6iKYi2Sk
Bottas, however, managed to complete 28 laps, although he struggled for pace. He finished 19th, 3.9 seconds behind the fastest time set by home hero Oscar Piastri in the McLaren. The reliability concerns kept the engineers worried, but team principal Graeme Lowdon believed they had met their expectations on the first day while running through their programme.
The next day in FP3, the team certainly appeared to learn from Friday’s outing, finishing 19th and 20th with Bottas and Perez respectively. Later in qualifying, they remained backmarkers, with Sergio Perez (18th) and Valtteri Bottas (19th) exiting in Q1, roughly four seconds off the pace.
However, during the main Grand Prix race on Sunday, the team achieved something that exceeded their expectations. Checo finished 16th, while Bottas retired on lap 16 due to a fuel system issue.
The General Motors-backed team’s CEO Dan Towriss admitted, “Morale is high, and it makes everybody that much more hungry to move forward. Everybody is fired up: ‘We’re here, we exceeded our expectations, now let’s go. Let’s work even harder; let’s push even harder.’”
Also Read: Lewis Hamilton and F1 Drivers Divided Over 2026 Engine Overhaul Ahead of Chinese Grand Prix
He added that the team simply aimed to improve session by session throughout the weekend. “And so the expectations for me were that I wanted to progress, that we were better in FP2 versus FP1, FP3, qualifying, and the race. I really feel like this team continued to make progress throughout the weekend.”
LAP 34/58
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 8, 2026
🟡 VSC ➡️ GREEN 🟢
There's debris on the track between Turns 8 and 9, and it looks to be from Perez's Cadillac! 👀#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/bQ9XwBZdqM
On the other hand, Bottas also took the outing positively on the team’s debut. “We made history as a team today,” Bottas said. “Our first-ever Grand Prix weekend, and we’re here, we’re racing, and that’s a proud moment for everyone.
“It’s a shame that the race was cut short for me due to a fuel system problem, but we learned a lot. The team did a great job to finish the race with Checo’s car.”
Now, they are preparing for the double-header weekend that also features a Sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix set to unfold on March 15.
