Sergio Perez finished the Formula 1 Dutch GP in a discreet position, but identified positive signs in Cadillac’s performance. For the Mexican, the pace shown in the second stint of the race showed that the team can extract more from the car.
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The Zandvoort round also marked Marcin Budkowski’s first weekend as Cadillac team principal, following Graeme Lowdon’s replacement during the category’s summer break. Perez positively evaluated the arrival of the new boss and highlighted how he has already started working on the project.
The weekend, however, started in a complicated way for the Mexican driver. Perez started both the Sprint race and the main GP from the pit-lane, after technical problems and a change in car setup, respectively. In the GP, he finished 15th, while Cadillac remains without points in 2026, with its best results being Valtteri Bottas’ 13th place in China and Perez’s 14th places in Barcelona and England.
Evaluating the race, Perez acknowledged that the qualifying session had been particularly complicated: “I think the qualifying session was really difficult, it didn’t work out, and it was the right decision to start from the pit-lane,” said the Mexican.
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Even with the difficulties, the driver found reasons for optimism during the race: “We made good progress, our pace was very strong in the first stint, and I was stuck behind Valtteri, but we managed to undercut him. Afterwards, the second stint looked much more promising,” he added.
Perez also highlighted Budkowski’s initial influence on the team and expressed confidence in the new boss’s work: “Marcin has already made his contribution, and we can all see that he is a great leader. He is working intensely, and from what I can see, he will soon start to put all his contribution into the project, so I am very happy with the way he is leading the team,” he concluded.
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