Sergio Perez warned that Cadillac must find consistent on-track performance quickly and speed up development across departments or risk being left behind in the 2026 F1 campaign. He pointed to well-resourced rivals such as Aston Martin, which has invested heavily, including a new simulator and targeted hiring, as a particular threat to a newcomer. Cadillac entered F1 this season running Ferrari customer engines and only put its maiden F1 car on track on January 16. The team has not yet scored championship points. Perez said scoring points would likely require a chaotic race.

Cadillac has shown encouraging moments but only occasional promise in the opening rounds. The team looked competitive in Miami, splitting the two Aston Martin cars and benefiting from upgrades, with Perez running as high as 15th in the sprint and finishing 13th in the Grand Prix, close behind Fernando Alonso in both races. Persistent problems have included reliability issues and excessive tire degradation that has cost performance. Perez also said he would have chosen softs instead of the hard tire he ran in one race.

Across the early rounds the Cadillac was about 1.3 seconds off the Q2 cutoff, a gap that narrowed to roughly 0.3 seconds in Miami sprint qualifying before rivals were able to extract more pace. Operationally the team has made visible gains, pit stops improving from 25.793 seconds in China to 23.228 seconds in Miami, quicker than Ferrari, Haas and Audi that weekend but still behind Mercedes’ best of 22.042 seconds. Cadillac has also signed Valtteri Bottas. Perez said getting a better understanding of the MAC-26 ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix is a short-term priority, and the team frames short-term fixes and targeted upgrades as essential to closing the gap with established teams.

Ford publicly endorsed the FIA draft to shift next-generation Formula 1 power units from the 50/50 combustion/electric split introduced this season to a roughly 60/40 combustion/electric balance planned for 2027. Ford Performance boss Mark Rushbrook called the proposal “a good step” and said “we would love to see a V8 here.” Ford said it supports the FIA’s broader vision of returning to V8 power units, with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem targeting a return by 2031, and expects to reconcile that direction with its comeback partnership with Red Bull Powertrains, pledging to commit full resources despite a difficult start to the season.

The FIA draft would increase fuel flow and combustion output by about 50 kW while reducing available electrical deployment by a similar amount, subject to technical and political approval. Rushbrook welcomed the greater internal combustion emphasis but warned it could create technical and packaging challenges, including fuel tank sizing, necessary chassis redesigns, and implications for the cost cap that teams and the FIA will need to manage.

Drivers criticized this season’s package for excessive battery management, reduced flat-out wheel-to-wheel racing, and unusual energy-harvesting tactics. Other manufacturers offered conditional support: GM president Mark Reuss said he liked the V8 sound while noting investments in current V6 hybrid units, and reports suggest Audi is likely less supportive.

The Miami-spec upgrade, intended for Race 1 but delayed by winter build issues and a missed Barcelona shakedown, finally debuted in Miami and began cutting weight. Williams expects a clearer turnaround in the final third of the season.

Miami produced Williams’ first double-points weekend of the year as Carlos Sainz finished ninth and Alex Albon tenth, lifting the team to eighth in the constructors’ standings and clear of Audi. Reports differ on the championship arithmetic: some outlets say Miami gave Williams its first points of the season, others say it added three points to an existing two, a shortfall traced to an overweight FW48 early in the year. Williams was sixth-fastest across the weekend.

Sainz said the package reached the competitive baseline Williams had targeted but remained well short of the team’s long-term goal, and he said Alpine was roughly 20 seconds clear. He warned a full recovery could take months, said there was no single silver bullet and noted more parts and small updates are due over the next rounds. Team principal James Vowles described Miami as a better weekend and said the team brought around 30 performance projects to the car, including a new floor, new bodywork, front-wing changes, modified rear suspension and exhaust-blowing work. He said further development is planned through the Canadian round and beyond and the team hopes to use the Miami breakthrough to build momentum into the latter part of the season while acknowledging rival development paths remain an unknown.