Cadillac’s biggest F1 upgrade yet was hit by Friday chaos

Friday at the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix turned out to be a highly problematic day for Cadillac. The American team arrived at the Spielberg circuit with high expectations thanks to a 10-upgrade package introduced on the MAC-26, but the evaluation of these components could not be properly completed.

Despite the great expectations generated by the deployment of the grid's most extensive upgrade package, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas both suffered setbacks at the Red Bull Ring. To clarify the situation, Cadillac's technical director, Nick Chester, detailed the reasons behind the failures that haunted Perez and Bottas during the first day of track action.

Perez's No. 11 car triggered a red flag in the opening session and a Virtual Safety Car in FP2, even after mechanics completely replaced his Electronic Control Unit (ECU).

Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Regarding this, Chester clarified the situation with the Mexican's car:

"Yes, it was tricky. It's an electrical issue causing the car to cut. We're working through it, so we've changed some of the components. We're now working through more components so that we can get ourselves ready for FP3."

The problems extended to Bottas' side of the garage. While the Finn managed a proper evaluation of the components during FP1, he faced a fire at the leading edge of the car's floor early in the second practice. Chester clarified the root cause of the incident, pointing to an assembly issue:

"The floor on Valtteri's car, we had a build issue with the mid-front on his car. So it did let the car down too far," he stated, noting that this was the reason a small fire broke out.

Finally, when questioned about why they decided not to introduce the highly anticipated Ferrari power unit upgrade this weekend, especially considering the high temperatures, Chester argued that the massive aerodynamic package consumed all available resources back at the factory:

"Partially because of the upgrade we've bought. There's so much work to bring that upgrade for both cars. That also trying to feed in a PU change at the same time would have been too much. Not for sure [when the engine will be introduced]. Could be Silverstone, could be Spa."

What is Cadillac aiming for with the 10 upgrades?

Cadillac technical detail

Photo by: Getty Images

The team introduced an evolution focused on the bodywork, floor, diffuser, and rear wing, aiming to mitigate tire degradation. Although mechanical failures drastically limited Checo Pérez's mileage and forced Cadillac to run solely on an updated fuel specification, the initial glimpses with Bottas in FP1 sparked optimism.

"Well, it's obviously early days. We had FP1 and we didn't get so many laps. Yes, from what we can see it looks like a bit of a step forward. But let's see tomorrow through FP3 quali where we get to," Chester said.