The Cadillac Formula 1® Team today completed its first Qualifying session ahead of the iconic Monaco Grand Prix.

Checo Perez came within just a few hundredths of a second from securing the American squad's first Q2 appearance and will start P18. Valtteri lines up just behind him on the grid in P20, ready to maximize every opportunity in the often-unpredictable race.

Checo Perez: "I think we got the maximum out there today with what we currently have. It was so close and we just lacked a few hundredths, otherwise we could have been there. In Monaco the drivers can always make a big difference, and I gave it everything today. We know that there can be a lot of opportunities round here in the race, so we will see. We'll do our best."

Valtteri Bottas: "I was hoping for a bit more today, but it does seem like some gaps are getting a bit smaller for us and we're ahead of both Astons. I thought maybe this track would suit our car but we're struggling a lot with the ride. We tried everything with the car setup to make the ride better; however we then lose load with the ride heights so it's tricky. There's clearly one area we can improve, which is curbing and how the car takes the bumps. Those last two laps at the end of Quali felt like I couldn't get anything more out of it from my side. It's been tricky with this car here, but we knew it was going to be a challenge. The race is tomorrow and it's a new day, so we will try again."

Graeme Lowdon, Team Principal: "We worked hard overnight to prepare the cars for the critical Monaco Qualifying session. It wasn't a completely clean session in the morning, but to be just 0.063secs from a Q2 spot in our sixth Grand Prix weekend demonstrates that we absolutely gave it our best shot. I'm proud of how the team came together and the input from both drivers, which is essential to continuing that progress. The race tomorrow isn't going to be an easy one from these positions, but things can quickly take unexpected turns in Monaco, so we'll keep pushing to take advantage of anything that comes our way."