Sergio Pérez’s 2026 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix came to an end following a challenging Sunday at the tight and twisty Hungaroring circuit.
Starting from the pit lane due to set-up changes on his Cadillac, the Mexican driver showed okay pace before an internal failure on the car forced him to retir. This marked a double DNF for the debutant American team alongside Perez’s teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Pérez’s pit-lane start and stint progression at the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP
Following a difficult practice where a failure occurred in FP3 and where he was slowest in qualifying, Cadillac decided to make suspension set-up adjustments during Parc Fermé on Sergio Pérez’s car. This resulted in the Mexican driver having a pit-lane start on Sunday.
During his initial stint in the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP, Pérez struggled heavily with the wind and grip. Nevertheless, adapting his driving style allowed him to find competitive pace after his first pit stop, feeling more competitive against Williams before he had to call it quits.
“Yes, I think we changed the floor so we were able to understand a few bits there. It was performing quite differently.
“I think the whole first stint really took me to understand what was the balance like with the wind. I was absolutely nowhere, just sliding around, and then I was able to really get on top of things. I had to drive quite differently the car.
“So I still believe my second stint was a lot stronger, on a par I think with Williams. But I still believe that there’s some issue with that gearbox that we had to change. And the car was feeling quite strange. And I think we just have to make sure we are able to understand it and come back stronger.”
Blue flag challenges along the way
On a short, technical circuit like Budapest, Pérez had to manage heavy traffic and blue flags, particularly after starting the race from the pit lane. The blue flag panel was also glitches from early on, leading to plenty of angry drivers at the front as the race went on.
Different tyre strategies and operating windows among surrounding cars complicated the Mexican driver’s progress on track, which he defined as tricky conditions.
“It was really early, they were on and off. I felt like with cars that are not as fast, it can be very tricky. Because they are just in the window and they can be in and out with the difference in tyres. It’s a bit of a disaster.”
Retirement from the race due to internal failure
Late in the race, Pérez had an unexpected failure entering Turn 5, which forced him to retire his car. While the exact underlying cause remains under investigation by the team, Pérez pointed to a suspected internal or gearbox-related failure.
“Just into Turn 5, I lost it. It’s something internal. At the moment we don’t know, but it seems to be something internal, the issue.”
When he was asked about the ongoing process of adapting his driving style to mitigate his Cadillac’s handling quirks, Pérez emphasised that diagnosing the root mechanical problem is their priority.
“It’s always useful [going through the adaptations and learning different ways of driving the car].
“But I think the most important thing is to be able to understand what’s wrong in the car. Because I still believe we have a bit of an issue we can see, but it’s not completely black and white at the moment.”
Looking ahead after the summer break
With both Pérez and his teammate Bottas failing to reach the chequered flag in the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP, Cadillac heads into the summer break looking forward to solving their reliability problems.
Pérez acknowledged the expected pains of a first-year organization but also highlighted the need for a clean execution across all departments when racing continues at Zandvoort.
“No more than worrying. I think it’s, obviously being a new team, you kind of expect all these issues. I think it’s a little frustrating that it has happened very often.
“So I’m sure that we will use this break to make sure we are able to clean and to improve all areas from different departments. Because I think it’s really important how we are able to progress in the second half of the season.”
