The Cadillac Formula 1 team introduced upgrades at the Japanese Grand Prix, showing signs of improvement during Friday's practice sessions at Suzuka. Valtteri Bottas finished 20th in FP1 and 18th in FP2, praising a trouble-free day and reduced gaps to rivals. Teammate Sergio Perez faced issues after colliding with Alex Albon.
Cadillac, making its Formula 1 debut this season, arrived at Suzuka with a revised diffuser and diffuser fence aimed at increasing aerodynamic load on the car. The upgrades appeared to yield positive results on Friday, marking the team's most competitive practice day yet, according to driver Valtteri Bottas. He completed FP1 in 20th place, 2.824 seconds behind the pacesetter, and improved to 18th in FP2, 2.482 seconds off the leader. Bottas noted, “It seems like we've closed the gap a bit to, I think, pretty much all the cars ahead. The gap is a bit smaller than before.” He added that it was the first race weekend day without technical issues, allowing full focus on performance and setup. Bottas felt the car gained load and stability, positioning Cadillac ahead of Aston Martin but still behind Williams, though lacking compared to top teams. The direction felt right, he said, with new parts working as expected. Cadillac engineering consultant Pat Symonds echoed this, stating, “Everything we’re trying to do is just put load on the car,” emphasizing consistent rear load and good balance across speeds and fuel loads. He believes more load could push them into midfield contention. Sergio Perez had a tougher FP1, colliding with Williams' Alex Albon at a chicane after Albon lunged inside. Perez finished 19th that session, 0.269 seconds ahead of Bottas, and 20th in FP2, 3.556 seconds off McLaren's Oscar Piastri. Cadillac had struggled in prior rounds, exiting Q1 in Melbourne and Shanghai without points, often hampered by technical woes.
