Perez expects 'a massive internal discussion' after Cadillac retirements in Austria

Sergio Perez says Cadillac needs to have serious discussions over its brake problems that led to both cars retiring in the opening laps of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Cadillac introduced a major new upgrade package at the Red Bull Ring and the early running for Valtteri Bottas looked promising in FP1. Although interruptions for both drivers in Friday practice didn’t help its qualifying showing, Perez says the initial signs in the race were encouraging before both he and Bottas were forced to retire within the first five laps.

“We had a good start,” Perez said. “We were looking good out there and unfortunately we just didn't progress enough and that meant that we were in the fight, we were fighting [Alex] Albon. We overtook him, he overtook us back, things were looking good for us but unfortunately we had to retire quite early. It looked like we had a bit more pace to compete with the others, so it's a little bit of a shame.

“It's been a very frustrating weekend for the whole team to have these issues. I expect a massive internal discussion on our processes and how we are doing things because we have to step up. We cannot have these sort of issues.”

Perez believes it was a misjudgment on Cadillac’s part that led the brake temperatures to spike, but says he is most unhappy with the fact that the team has suffered recurring problems.

“I think we underestimated the effect of traffic and we've been having issues all weekend,” he said. “I think it's been the worst weekend. It feels like we took four or five steps backwards. So there needs to be a massive process, thinking about how we're doing things, especially when it comes to upgrades, because [in Austria] what happened was totally unacceptable, and very unfortunate for the team. So I'm sure that we will be able to sort it out for the coming races.

“Of course it is frustrating, but the most frustrating thing is not to see progress. We always expected these things to occur to a new team, obviously, but I think the frustration comes from the lack of progress. So I'm sure that this upgrade will help us to understand a lot of those efficiencies, and I do expect a massive step forward in reliability going to Silverstone.”

Cadillac sources suggest the team was aware it could hit trouble over a longer run, but was caught out by how quickly the brakes overheated. Bottas said he surprised by the escalation.

“No warning,” Bottas said. “Everything was under control in practice. We did more than 10 laps in a row. That's normally more than enough to get the peak temperature at the beginning of the race. But I think [on Sunday] with the slight increase in temperature and then with the traffic effect, things just caught on fire, clearly, on lap 2 already. It's a big issue. Obviously, we've got to find a fix for it.

“It’s now a third DNF for me in a row, so if we don't finish the races, then we can't really learn much about the car and the package either. So, the priority is now pretty clear in Silverstone. We have to finish the race. That's when we can learn. We had new bits in terms of brake cooling for this weekend, but clearly not enough. So, we've just got to keep working.”