The Mexican driver suffered a failure at turn 5 and could not finish the race: "I lost it, and I don't know why," he declared.
Sergio Pérez lived another forgettable weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Mexican from Cadillac retired from the race due to a suspension problem on his MAC-26 and could not finish the race at the Hungaroring: "I lost it at turn 5" explained Pérez, who does not understand the origin of the failure that forced him to retire for the second time this season due to a similar problem.
The Cadillac driver had started from the pit lane after the team decided to change the gearbox and make suspension adjustments to try to find solutions to the reliability problems. The first part of the race was promising for collecting kilometers, but reliability failed again... Bottas also retired due to brake problems, adding another double zero for the American team.
"I think we changed the floor, so we were able to understand a couple of things there. It was behaving quite differently, I think the whole first stint took me quite a while to understand how the balance was with the wind. I wasn't anywhere, just sliding all over the place" explained Pérez, who acknowledged that he had to adapt his driving style.
The Mexican pointed out that the car felt strange after the gearbox change: "My second stint was much stronger on pace I think, with Williams, but I still believe there is some problem with that gearbox we had to change. The car felt quite strange, I think we just have to make sure we can understand it and come back stronger" he declared.
Pérez is aware that reliability problems are part of the process for a new team, but he also admitted his frustration: "Obviously being a new team you expect all these problems, but I think it's a bit frustrating that it's happened so often, so I'm sure we'll use this break to make sure we can clean up and improve all areas and the different departments" he stated.
The Mexican driver trusts that the summer break will allow Cadillac to solve the reliability problems and take a step forward in the second half of the season: "Because I think it's really important how we are able to progress in the second half of the season" concluded Pérez.
Cadillac has had a complicated start to the season with reliability problems that have hampered the team's performance. Pérez and Bottas have suffered retirements in several races, which has not allowed the team to score its first points in Formula 1. This summer break will be key for the American team to analyze the problems and find solutions for the second half of the season.
The lack of reliability has been Cadillac's main handicap. The team has shown flashes of competitiveness in qualifying but has not been able to translate them into race results. Pérez hopes that the team can take a step forward in the second half of the season and start fighting for points, although the road is long and reliability problems are not solved overnight...
