2026 MIAMI GRAND PRIX — SPRINT RACE & QUALIFYING REPORT
May 2, 2026 — Miami International Autodrome, Florida — The Cadillac Formula 1® Team continued its progress in today’s Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race with another double finish for Checo Perez and Valtteri Bottas. Checo passed the flag in P16 and Valtteri P19 as the American squad raced on home soil for the first time.
Attention then turned to Qualifying for tomorrow’s main event, the Miami Grand Prix. Valtteri will start from P20 and Checo P21.
With rain predicted to arrive at some point over race day, the Grand Prix is likely to be unpredictable, putting experience to the fore.
Checo Perez:
Sprint Race Started: 17th, Finished: 16th, Fastest Lap: 1:35.015
Qualifying Position: 21st Q1: 1:31.967
“This morning felt good as we were racing the first couple of laps but we were on the hard tire, which wasn’t the right choice in the end. But we learned a lot and this weekend it seems we are definitely more competitive. Qualifying was just very messy. On my second run I made a mistake, which was on me, and then the third lap I had a problem with the energy deployment so I missed the corner and lost this lap too. We have explored the balance, which we need to do, but we just didn’t get the most out of it today.”
Valtteri Bottas:
Sprint Race Started: 19th, Finished: 19th, Fastest Lap: 1:35.856
Qualifying Position: 20th Q1: 1:31.629
“I felt a lot better with the car in Qualifying after making quite a few changes from the Sprint Race. We knew it was going to be hard to reach Q2, but the gap to the midfield is getting closer, which is good to see. We’re continuing to deepen our understanding of the car and tires to find more consistency which is all part of the process we’re on. Tomorrow is a great opportunity for us if it’s mixed conditions, so we’ll give it everything we can.”
Graeme Lowdon, Team Principal
“Overall this weekend has been a step forward in performance, as we’ve been able to race other teams and be properly in the mix on race pace. We started the Sprint strongly and we were hoping to be further up in Qualifying, but weren’t able to capitalize fully on the inherent progress. That we are disappointed shows just how far we have come in just four races. We now need to look to the race tomorrow to put it all together.”