What's behind Cadillac's double retirement at the Hungaroring?
Cadillac endured a disappointing end to the first half of its debut Formula 1 season after both of its cars retired from the Hungarian Grand Prix, highlighting the reliability challenges that continue to hamper the American outfit.
Valtteri Bottas was the first driver to retire after suffering a brake failure caused by overheating, with flames visible before the Finn slowly returned to the pits.
The issue came despite Cadillac introducing upgrades aimed at improving brake cooling for the Hungaroring weekend. Interestingly, Bottas had already warned on Thursday that brake temperatures could become a significant concern at the tight and demanding circuit.
Sergio Perez's race came to an early end later in the afternoon after a front suspension problem forced him to retire. While the Mexican had shown improved pace during the middle phase of the race, the mechanical failure ensured Cadillac left Budapest empty-handed.
The double retirement also underlined the team's current competitive position. After recent developments from Aston Martin, Cadillac now appears to have slipped behind its rival in outright performance, leaving plenty of work to do before Formula 1 returns following the summer shutdown.
Reflecting on his race, Perez admitted the car never felt quite right despite an improvement during the second stint: "It was a challenging race. In the first stint I was struggling a lot with the balance and sliding around, but I was able to adapt my driving, and the second stint was much stronger.
"I still felt there was something not quite right with the car, so it’s important that we understand exactly what was happening. As a new team, we expect to face some challenges, but it’s frustrating that we’ve had a few issues recently. We’ll use next week before the shutdown period to work hard across all areas and make sure we come back stronger for the second half of the season."
Bottas expressed his disappointment after the brake overheating issue prematurely ended his afternoon, while remaining optimistic about the progress the team has made relative to its midfield rivals.
"Unfortunately, my race came to end due to the brakes overheating. It’s a shame as we had upgrades to address the brake cooling, but it wasn’t enough due to the extreme conditions and the nature of this circuit.
"It’s another learning for us as a team and we’ll be using the week before the summer break to try to get on top of the issue, so it doesn’t happen again. There are still positives to take away from the weekend as we’ve been closer to Williams than before.
"It’s been a challenging start to the season as expected being a new team, but we have many moments to be proud of and more to look forward to in the second half of the year."
Team Principal Graeme Lowdon acknowledged the disappointing result but stressed that setbacks are inevitable for a brand-new Formula 1 operation.
"Clearly, a double retirement is not the way we wanted to finish the first half of the season, but building something new is not without its challenges.
"We need to understand exactly what happened today and make sure we address the issues we have experienced. There has been great progress in many areas and the commitment and hard work across the entire team remains incredibly strong.
"As a team, we have achieved a lot in the first half of our debut season but of course we always want more, and I have every confidence that we will come back stronger and ready to push again in Zandvoort."
