Sergio Perez spies twin Cadillac promise after 'massive trial'

Sergio Perez believes his Cadillac team showed good promise in the second stint of the Dutch Grand Prix, and that new boss Marcin Budkowski is running the operation well after his first event.

Budkowski replaced Graeme Lowdon during the summer break at the helm of Cadillac, with the former Alpine chief becoming a team principal in his own right for the first time. 

Cadillac remains the only team without a point in 2026, with its best result being 13th for Valtteri Bottas in China, with Perez's own best 14th in Barcelona and Great Britain. 

During the Zandvoort weekend, Perez started both the Sprint and grand prix from the pit-lane after technical issues and a set-up change, respectively, with the Mexican taking 15th in the race itself.

Reflecting on the weekend after the "massive trial" of qualifying, Perez explained how there were some glimpses of promise for the American squad. 

"I think qualifying was really a massive trial; it didn't work out, and it was the right decision to start from the pit-lane," Perez told media, including RacingNews365.

"We made some good progress, our pace was very strong in the first stint, and I was stuck behind Valtteri, but we managed to overcut him, and then the second stint looked quite a lot more promising.

"We were a bit unlucky with the VSC, but in the end, we managed to finish ahead of the Williams after the issue they had, so it is promising. 

"Marcin has already put his input in, and we can all see that he is a great leader. He is working flat out, and from what I can see, he is very soon going to start putting all of his input into the project, so I'm very happy with how he is leading the team."