F1 star's comeback takes a hit after being ruled OUT at Chinese Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Cadillac, F1, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Chinese Grand Prix

F1 star's comeback takes a hit after being ruled OUT at Chinese Grand Prix

Reliability plays its part once again

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 13 March 2026 08:46 Updated: 10:03

One F1 star's Chinese Grand Prix weekend got off to a disastrous start after they were ruled out of sprint qualifying.

Cadillac comeback kid Sergio Perez was ruled out of the all important shootout on Friday before the session even started, as his return to F1 continues its shaky start.

The team confirmed that Perez would not take part in SQ1 due to a fuel systems issue, and said: "Checo won’t be participating in this sprint quali session.

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"The team identified a fuel system issue at the end of the earlier practice session that could not be fixed in time. Valtteri [Bottas] will participate as planned."

The fuel systems issue follows a testing Australian Grand Prix debut, where Perez spent most of Friday in the garage as the Cadillac team fixed a sensor problem.

Perez finished the first race of the season in 16th and over two minutes behind the points scoring positions, with Cadillac 1.4 seconds slower than the next car in qualifying.

Double SQ1 exit for Cadillac in Melbourne

Alongside Perez being unable to start the session, his team-mate Valtteri Bottas also failed to progress past SQ1 in Shanghai.

Bottas was the slowest of all the running cars in the session and only managed a grid slot of P21, behind the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

Aston Martin's early season struggles have eclipsed Cadillac's however, unable to complete the full race distance in Melbourne.

While Cadillac are a brand new team starting from scratch in 2026, Aston Martin's established outfit has taken a step back after fundamental issues with their Honda engine causing vibrations in the AMR26's chassis.

Sergio Perez Cadillac Chinese Grand Prix Shanghai International Circuit