Perez Slams Cadillac's 'Unacceptable' Reliability After Double Austria DNF

Sergio Perez has delivered a scathing verdict on Cadillac's ongoing reliability crisis, labeling the brake failures that ended both his and Valtteri Bottas's Austrian Grand Prix within four laps as "totally unacceptable." The double DNF torpedoed the team's plans to evaluate a major aerodynamic upgrade and left the American squad facing serious questions ahead of Silverstone.

Why it matters:

For a new Formula 1 operation, race finishes equal data. Cadillac's chronic mechanical issues are starving a team that desperately needs track time to understand its car. Perez insisted that the lack of visible progress, more than the failures themselves, is the most damaging aspect of the team's troubled 2026 start.

The details:

• Both Cadillac cars retired by lap four at the Red Bull Ring due to brake overheating triggered by hot conditions and early-race traffic.
• The failures came after the squad introduced a significant aero upgrade, yet lost practice time left them unable to properly extract its potential.
• Perez pointed to a growing pattern of setbacks, referencing his suspension failure in Montreal and Bottas's brake issue in Barcelona.
• Bottas, who recorded his third consecutive DNF, warned that the team cannot develop the car if it consistently fails to see the checkered flag.

What's next:

Cadillac enters the British Grand Prix weekend with reliability at the top of its priority list. Both drivers have demanded a clean race at Silverstone to finally gather meaningful data on the latest package and prove the team can move forward. If the gremlins persist, Cadillac risks wasting its entire upgrade budget on parts it never gets to properly validate.