Cadillac left the Dutch Formula 1 GP without scoring points, on a Sunday marked by reliability issues and a missed opportunity with the Virtual Safety Car. Sergio Perez finished 15th, while Valtteri Bottas retired from the race about ten laps from the end.
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Perez started from the pit lane and assessed that the strategy allowed the team to advance during the race. After being stuck behind Bottas on the first lap, the Mexican managed to execute the ‘overcut’ and gain position, but the timing of the Virtual Safety Car ended up hurting his chances to advance further.
“Starting from the pit lane was the right decision, and we made good progress throughout the race. Our pace was strong,” said Perez. The driver also highlighted that Cadillac managed to finish ahead of Williams and considered that there were positive aspects in the performance shown in Zandvoort.
Bottas, however, was unable to take the car to the finish flag. The Finn revealed that a hydraulic failure affected the rear wing, forcing him to retire with only a few laps remaining, a problem similar to what Perez faced during the weekend.
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“Unfortunately, we had a hydraulic problem that was affecting the rear wing. Checo had the same problem at the start of the weekend and now it hurt us with just a handful of laps left,” explained Bottas. According to him, the first stint was reasonable, but the second part of the race left lessons that will be analyzed by the team before Monza.
Marcin Budkowski, in his first weekend leading Cadillac as team principal, highlighted the complexity of strategic decisions in variable conditions. The executive acknowledged that the team still needs to improve in two fundamental areas: “We have work to do on pace and reliability, but we will get there,” he concluded.
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