Cadillac double retirement at Austrian GP halts upgrade

Cadillac's hopes for a breakthrough at the Austrian Grand Prix were extinguished by a devastating double retirement on Sunday, as recurring brake failures forced both Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez out of the race within the opening laps. The result marked the team's first double non-finish of the 2026 Formula 1 season and overshadowed the promising performance of a major upgrade package introduced at the Red Bull Ring.

The weekend had begun with significant challenges during Friday practice, where Perez faced electrical issues that repeatedly shut down his car and Bottas dealt with a sparking and burning front floor tray due to a build error. Despite the limited running, the team entered qualifying with optimism. Both drivers were eliminated in the first qualifying session, but their lap times were nearly a second faster than the Aston Martins, indicating a step forward in single-lap pace from the new aerodynamic components, which included revised sidepods and a new floor.

That optimism was short-lived. As the race began under high temperatures, the team's known weakness with brake cooling resurfaced catastrophically. Bottas reported smelling smoke and seeing his front brakes...