2026 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE REPORT
The Cadillac Formula 1® Team today completed the first day of practice at the Red Bull Ring, home to the Austrian Grand Prix.
The team introduced a major new upgrade package for this race, which performed well in the morning session as Valtteri Bottas claimed 13th in the overall classification. His afternoon session came to a premature end as his car overheated on track, requiring a return to the garage.
Checo Perez had a more challenging day with very limited mileage. His first session was curtailed with a suspected electrical issue. Unfortunately, he then stopped on track at the start of the second session with a similar problem and would take no further part in the day’s running.
Tomorrow’s final practice will be crucial in preparing for Qualifying at 4.00pm local time.
Checo Pérez:
FP1: 21st, Laps: 14 (1:11.283), FP2: 22nd, No Time Set
“Let’s start with the positives. Valtteri had a very good session in the morning. We could see a bit of light in the new upgrades, but unfortunately running was very limited for me today. We don’t fully understand what the issue is on my side yet, so we will change the electricals and engine tonight – which was already planned, fortunately – to make sure that we have a clean day tomorrow as we have a lot of work ahead of us. Hopefully we can find out where we really are and have a much more straightforward day.”
Valtteri Bottas:
FP1: 13th, Laps: 21 (1:09.521), FP2: 21st, Laps: 6 (1:11.307)
“Firstly, I'm really proud of the team for working so hard to get the upgrades here for this weekend and working flat out on the car to get it ready for this morning. FP1 was positive as we had the upgrades to evaluate in the session, and everything seemed to be working like we expected. I think we’ve made a step on the overall car performance. However, FP2 was more difficult today. We had mechanical issue with the car, which prevented us from completing most of our run plans. The main thing tonight is getting the car in the right place and then continuing our work tomorrow."
Graeme Lowdon, Team Principal:
“We introduced a major new upgrade package for this race, and I would like to thank the team across our bases and at the track for their efforts in having it ready to run today. Valtteri demonstrated how much of a big step forward it represents in the morning session, so we can take confidence from this. Unfortunately, Checo had a much more challenging day, with very little running. We will investigate the reasons tonight to fully maximize the extra performance it gives in tomorrow’s Qualifying session.”