Cadillac finished Friday of the Formula 1 Hungarian GP with the feeling of having advanced in its work program. Despite the discreet positions in the time sheet, the team positively evaluated the development carried out throughout the day and believes it can stay close to the midfield.
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Sergio Perez was the only driver from the team to participate in both sessions, finishing FP1 in 18th and FP2 in 20th. The Mexican highlighted the changes in track conditions throughout the day, especially due to the wind, a factor that allowed the team to experiment with different setups.
“It was an interesting day overall. Track conditions evolved quite a bit, particularly with the wind in FP2, which allowed us to explore different directions with the car. I think we have a good understanding of what we need to do regarding the car’s balance for tomorrow. Now, the focus is on putting everything together for the qualifying session,” Perez stated.
Valtteri Bottas took over the car in FP2 and finished the session in 18th. The Finn emphasized that he started the activity facing difficulties with the car’s balance, but highlighted the evolution achieved throughout the session and said he ended the day satisfied with the consistency shown.
“It’s good to be back in Budapest, it’s a fun track to drive. We started FP2 with quite a challenging balance, but we made good progress during the session and managed to settle the car. In the end, I was relatively satisfied with both the low-fuel laps and the race simulations,” he commented.
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Bottas believes Cadillac has a solid foundation to continue evolving: “We have a good platform to develop tomorrow and it looks like we will be in contention again, very close to the midfield. I am confident we can do something tomorrow,” he added.
In FP1, Colton Herta returned to drive for the team and finished in 20th. The American stated that he took the opportunity to expand his knowledge of the car’s characteristics and emphasized that he feels increasingly comfortable behind the wheel since his last participation in Barcelona.
Team principal, Graeme Lowdon, also gave a positive assessment of Friday: “Track evolution and wind gusts were important factors today as we carried out our program. We focused on the car’s ride height and balance, and made good progress throughout the day. We also managed to carry out important race simulations in FP2, which provided very useful information for Sunday. It was great to have Colton back in the car in FP1, and he once again did an excellent job for the team,” he concluded.
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