Cadillac facing ‘urgent’ quality control issue as Sergio Perez narrowly avoids ‘serious accident’

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Sergio Perez’s suspension failure at the Canadian Grand Prix raises fresh questions over the quality of Cadillac’s Formula 1 components.

Perez was battling Esteban Ocon for 14th place, which would have been his best result since joining Cadillac, when his steering failed without any contact.

The Mexican was able to hobble back to the pits, but the right front completely collapsed just before the entry.

Cadillac F1 drivers have already raised concerns over car parts

As noted by Motorsport IT, Perez was fortunate to avoid a ‘major and serious accident’. Had he lost steering in a different part of the track, the outcome could have been far worse.

Newcomers Cadillac clearly have an ‘urgent’ quality control issue to address. After the Miami GP, Perez’s teammate Valtteri Bottas suggested that there was a lack of ‘consistency’ in the team’s parts when replacements should be ‘identical’.

Did you expect more from Cadillac this year?

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The bizarre nature of Perez’s Montreal DNF will only heighten doubts about whether all of their components are up to Formula 1 standards.

Graeme Lowdon’s squad have performed respectably so far, given their inexperience and the scale of the challenge they faced. They have, on average, been around 2.5 seconds off the pace in qualifying, but only a couple of tenths adrift of Aston Martin.

But if they want to progress as a team, it’s critical that they stamp out these production-line issues.

Uncertainty over the future of both Cadillac drivers

It has emerged this week that multiple teams are interested in Perez, even though he’s only a few races into a multi-year contract at Honda. At 36, he may be inclined to join a team with stronger short-term prospects, even though they may not have the same long-term ceiling.

Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas’ future is in doubt amid reports that Cadillac are considering giving his seat to reserve driver Colton Herta. That will rely on the American F2 driver accruing enough superlicence points.

Herta will take part in four FP1 sessions for Cadillac this year, starting in Barcelona next month. That will help him get closer to the eligibility criteria.

While a Cadillac spokesperson strongly denied the Bottas story when approached by Motorsport Week, the appeal of promoting Herta is obvious.