The Cadillac Formula 1 Team achieved its strongest result to date at the Monaco Grand Prix, with Checo Perez crossing the line in 10th place — the final points-scoring position — in only the American squad’s sixth race. A post-race penalty for starting out of position following a red flag dropped Perez to a classified 15th, but the on-track performance marked a significant milestone for the fledgling team.
Perez started 18th after qualifying within 0.063 seconds of a Q2 berth and fought through a chaotic race to gain eight positions on the road. Teammate Valtteri Bottas retired on lap 15 with a brake issue, leaving Perez as the sole finisher for the team.
“An amazing thing for the team,” Perez said. “It was such a very tricky race out there with the vibrations — at some points we thought about retiring the car as it was so hard — but we didn’t give up, we kept pushing, kept our head down and the race presented us with another opportunity to go for it. I had a poor restart but a tremendous first lap and overtook a lot of cars and in the end we finished P10 on the road.”
Perez acknowledged the penalty but refused to let it diminish the achievement. “It was a shame with the penalty as we didn’t get any benefit from the restart, but that’s how it is — it doesn’t detract from the result today,” he said.
The Monaco result caps a stretch of rapid improvement for Cadillac. At the preceding Canadian Grand Prix, the team described that weekend as its most competitive to date after introducing upgrades that allowed Perez to race on pace in the midfield before a suspension failure ended his race on lap 39. Team Principal Graeme Lowdon noted the progress has been building steadily.
“To finish 10th on the road is an incredible testament to the resolve of the team to keep fighting until the end,” Lowdon said. “After the red flag restart, Checo drove fantastically well to make up several positions on the road — it was a real shame that the penalty dropped us back as he fought like he was going for the win. We’ve got some real momentum behind us now and we can’t wait to get back on track.”
Bottas, who qualified 20th and struggled with brake temperatures throughout the weekend, said the team had anticipated the issue going into the race. “Even with a lot of management from the first lap, we couldn’t keep the temperatures under control, so we had to retire the car,” Bottas said. “It’s been a challenging weekend at a unique circuit but we’re still seeing positive glimpses.”
Cadillac now turns its attention to the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, where the team will race in just one week’s time. The squad enters the Spanish Grand Prix with growing confidence after consecutive weekends of measurable progress, though operational challenges — including the Monaco penalty and Bottas’s reliability concerns — remain areas to address as the European season continues.