Cadillac arrives at the Hungaroring for the 2026 Hungarian GP, the 11th round of the 2026 Formula 1 season and its debut year, looking to turn recent progress into a more competitive result before the category’s summer break, which takes place for almost the entire month of August.
Read more F1: Albon will be Williams’ first driver to return to South Africa since 1993
The team will have a new face in the first free practice session: Colton Herta will replace Valtteri Bottas. It will be the American’s second participation in an official F1 session this year, after his debut at the Barcelona GP in June. In addition to working with Cadillac, Herta will also continue his Formula 2 schedule.
“It’s very exciting to have another chance in FP1. It’s a good opportunity for my personal experience, but the ultimate goal is, of course, to help the team in its development. It’s been six weeks since I was last in the car, and there’s been a lot of evolution in that period. My job is to help the race drivers have the best possible Hungarian Grand Prix — but also to provide feedback that will assist the team in its long-term development goals and give me a better foundation in future sessions,” Herta stated.
Team principal Graeme Lowdon highlighted that the Hungaroring might better suit the characteristics of the Cadillac car, but reinforced that reliability remains a priority: “Hungary will likely be another hot weekend — but on a circuit that perhaps suits the characteristics of our car a little better than last week,” Lowdon said. “I am pleased with the progress we have made throughout the first half of our first season in F1, but we still have work to do to achieve the reliability we desire.”
According to the director, the team will also use the weekend to evaluate the new brake drums developed after the problems faced in Austria. “We will conduct stress tests on the MAC-26 with a series of race simulations so that both drivers can extract maximum performance from the car,” he added.
Read more F1: Button jokes with Antonelli and recalls a memorable victory in Hungary
The Hungarian round arrives at a time of intense calendar for Formula 1. Sergio Pérez highlighted the difficulty of competing in consecutive races on circuits with different characteristics, but stated that the team is prepared:
“Consecutive races are a real challenge for teams, especially those with very different characteristics. It’s difficult to go from one track to another, analyze our last race, prepare for the next, bring new updated parts, and then extract the best from ourselves when the season is progressing at this pace — but we are well prepared, the team is working cohesively, and we are looking forward to entering the summer break boosted by a good performance in Hungary.”
Bottas also arrives motivated after feeling a closer approach to the midfield in the previous GP: “It was good to complete the full race distance last weekend, and it felt like we were a bit closer to the midfield. The Hungaroring should suit our car better, and we are excited to go into the break with momentum,” said the Finn.
The Hungarian GP takes place between July 24 and 26 and F1MANIA.NET covers the event’s activities in REAL TIME.
Read more F1: FIA will discuss Leclerc and Hamilton’s cases with drivers in Hungary
