Five Grands Prix into its maiden campaign, Cadillac's biggest shortfall is not where most predicted. The grid's newest team expected to be slow — and it is, with no points and no Q1 escapes yet. But the real source of frustration sits in the way the operation runs, and Sergio Perez is the one saying so out loud.
On pace, Cadillac has quietly outperformed expectations, regularly fighting the underachieving Aston Martin to stay off the back row and occasionally nettling established midfielders. The problem is execution. Perez, who has emerged as the lead driver ahead of Valtteri Bottas, retired from the team's most competitive race so far in Canada with a freak suspension failure unrelated to any contact.
His assessment was blunt. "We are not maximizing the results," he said, describing a squad "in a massive hurry" with an operational side that is "lacking tremendously and needs to rapidly improve."
The teething troubles are familiar for any new constructor. A troublesome low-pressure fuel system has been resolved; the harder grind is learning to fit aero parts cleanly, turn the garage around between runs, and digest the live data that rivals process in their sleep. As team principal Graeme Lowden notes, the next-newest outfit, Haas, has 219 Grand Prix starts since 2016 to Cadillac's five.
Against that benchmark, the early signs are good. A Miami upgrade package landed well, the 107 percent rule never came close to biting — the faster car has averaged 3.176 percent off the quickest Q1 time, out-qualifying Aston Martin twice in eight sessions — and reliability has held with an 80 percent finishing rate. Cadillac has even completed more racing laps than Red Bull, Williams, Racing Bulls, Audi, Aston Martin and champions McLaren.
Lowden's two stated goals were to win rivals' respect and to measure the team's ability to execute. The first is done; the second is the gap, and Perez keeps prodding at it — pushing in meetings, naming people to recruit, demanding more. He believes he is proving himself among the grid's best again.
That hunger carries a risk for Cadillac. Perez is understood to be on the radar of other midfield teams eyeing 2027, and while he remains committed for now, the team knows it must convert promise into points to keep him. The pace is real. Holding on to the driver dragging the most out of it is the next challenge.
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*Originally published on [Newsformula One](https://newsformula.one/article/cadillac-execution-problem-perez-2026-debut-season). Visit for full coverage.*
