Sergio Perez put in a strong performance last weekend for Cadillac on the streets of Baku, later describing the outing as "one of my best weekends" and his best performance at the venue, despite failing to reach the points. The streets of Baku have been a happy hunting ground for the Mexican in the past, having taken victories there in 2021 and 2023 when driving for Red Bull.
Things started brightly as Perez enjoyed his best practice outings of the season. Unfortunately, the Cadillac driver fell short in Qualifying, managing only P20 alongside a three-place grid drop for impeding. Yet when Sunday arrived, the race told a different story.
Perez managed to stay in touch with the midfield runners on his way to P14, securing his joint best result of the season. He noted that he drove at a high level throughout the weekend, particularly during the race itself.
"I think it's been one of my best weekends, best performance in Baku and I've had some good ones here," Perez said. He added that the team is simply a second or two off the pace needed to compete with others. During the first stint, Cadillac stayed with the Williams and the Audi, aided by the overtake mode, but ultimately lacked straight-line speed due to being too draggy on the straights. With plenty of things to improve, Perez acknowledged that it is going to be a difficult end of the year.
Cadillac is still searching for its first points during a maiden season in Formula 1, with Valtteri Bottas holding the team's best result so far courtesy of a P13 finish in China. With no major upgrades expected before the campaign concludes, Perez is instead looking toward operational improvements to hit the ground running in 2027.
"I think we don't have anything coming to the car unfortunately but I think operationally and pushing the team to improve and get the maximum out of the weekends, I think we are heading in that direction," Perez said, emphasizing the need to keep pushing hard as a team.
