The Cadillac Team left the 2026 F1 Belgian GP with a wealth of data but no points to show for it on the championship scoreboard once again.
At the famously fast and flowing Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Valtteri Bottas managed to take the chequered flag in 18th, while a rear suspension failure abruptly killed Sergio Pérez’s Sunday.
As the American squad tries to adapt its way into the Formula 1 series, the 2026 Belgian GP exposed their car’s biggest flaws, which are too much drag down the long straights and a set-up that just degrades the tyres.
Spa exposed Cadillac F1 Team’s weaknesses
Valtteri Bottas managed to avoid the chaos of multiple (Virtual) Safety Cars and saw the chequered flag at the 2026 F1 Belgian GP. Gathering crucial mileage for the team, the veteran driver had to rely on his experience just to keep the struggling MAC-26 on the tarmac.
While crossing the line in 18th wasn’t the goal, bringing the car home provided the engineering team with desperately needed telemetry to diagnose their aerodynamic woes, exposed thoroughly by the Belgian circuit.
“Yeah, something else to worry about, something else to fix [when told about Checo’s suspension problem]. But at least we finished with one car, which means we can learn quite a lot from today. But I think today really highlights the issues we have. For sure it’s still the reliability, but also our tyre deck is quite thick. And here I think it’s because of the high-speed corners. We just don’t have to load in high-speed, and that’s when we slide and we kill the tyres. But yeah, something still to work on, obviously.”
The immense speed differential between the leaders and the trailing pack was also apparent in the 2026 F1 Belgian GP. Surprised by the top two during the race at Spa, Bottas was caught out by the speed at which Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc caught him, inadvertently helping Kimi Antonelli in the process.
“I mean, the rate they were closing was so quick, so it really caught me out. So, I don’t know. Did it make a difference? Did he get passed after that?
Told it helped the Italian get by on the next lap, the Finn quipped: “Kimi can buy me a dinner. The closing speed really caught me out.”
Despite the results, motivation goes strong
Although they face challenging circumstances each race weekend and still haven’t scored any points for the Cadillac F1 Team, Bottas remains deeply committed to the project.
The veteran driver emphasised his drive to improve the team and eventually reap the rewards in the future.
“To improve. I’m here to give everything I can. I want us to improve, and for that every team member needs to give everything. I’m just trying to think for the future. When the results eventually come, it’s going to be rewarding.”
A frustrating 2026 F1 Belgian GP experience for Cadillac driver Sergio Pérez
On the other side of the garage, Pérez endured a frustratingly short Sunday at the 2026 F1 Belgian GP. The Mexican driver had a minor power deployment issue on his first lap. Later on lap 13, a terminal mechanical failure brought Pérez’s race to a premature halt and he had to retire his car.
After the race, Pérez confirmed that what initially felt like a puncture was actually a suspension failure.
“Yes, because I was on three wheels.
“Yes [no power at some stage of the race], on the first lap we had a bit of an issue but I think that was just a deployment.“
Before retiring his car, the Mexican driver gambled and stayed out during an early safety car period to offset his strategy.
“I decided to stay out thinking about the longer term picture because if I went to the hard again that would mean that we are all on the same strategy so I wanted to… I’ve been lacking a lot of straight-line speed, I didn’t have the speed even in the race I was lacking 3 tenths on the back straight so there is an issue with the drag of the car that we need to sort out and unfortunately we didn’t get… I think it could have worked for us because of the safety cars that came out but unfortunately it wasn’t just enough.”
Pérez revealed that the team battled unexpected weight issues throughout the weekend at Spa. Acknowledging how hard everyone works for the team behind the scenes, Pérez stated that the 2026 F1 Belgian GP was a frustrating experience.
However, the veteran Mexican driver is not too concerned since he believes that they will fix the issues after a good analysis.
“It is frustrating but obviously everyone in the team is working really hard. It’s been a difficult weekend for us I would say. With all the issues we had we found the car just suddenly overweight by a few kilos and we just had a lot of issues, it hasn’t been a clean weekend and I’m sure that we will do a good sit down and get everything in place for a much better Hungary.“
Turning the page to Hungaroring, the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP
Now that the 2026 F1 Belgian GP is in the rearview mirror, the Cadillac F1 Team is looking forward to bouncing back at the upcoming Hungarian GP. The Hungaroring is, by its nature, a tight and twisty circuit which might mask some of Cadillac’s straight-line deficits that plagued the race at Spa.
Bottas hopes that they will face fewer competitors at the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP than at the Belgian race.
“I hope so. It seems like it’s not going to be extremely hot. And it’s mostly slow, medium-speed corners, and that’s where we are lacking less competitors. So, hopefully a bit better. I don’t know if we can get a good quali there. We can maybe do something.”
Echoing his teammate’s cautious optimism, Pérez highlighted the qualifying session’s importance for a strong race at the Hungaroring.
“Yes, I think that potentially it could be [more favorable]. Obviously qualifying is the most important there so hopefully we can have a good strong race before the end of the first part of the year.”
With Aston Martin currently sitting just one point ahead of the Cadillac F1 Team in the Constructors’ Championship, the squad led by Adrian Newey is preparing to introduce a major B-spec update in Budapest.
Admitting his concerns over Aston Martin’s updates for Hungary, Bottas is determined to turn the Cadillac F1 Team’s fortunes around before they enter the summer break.
“I’m a little bit scared about their update of the new car. But, of course, we would like to stay ahead. At the moment, they have one point from Monaco. We don’t have any. But in the end, we need to focus on what we’re doing. And at least we have some new bits for Budapest as well. And we’ll see what it does for the pace.”
