The Cadillac Formula 1® Team showed encouraging pace in wet conditions during qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix today, with Valtteri Bottas and Checo Pérez both challenging for a place in Q2.

Heavy rain brought out the red flag within the opening minutes, prompting a lengthy delay before Q1 resumed. Both Cadillac drivers featured in the top 10 during the early stages and ran inside the top 16 for much of the session, demonstrating genuine pace in the challenging conditions.

Valtteri will gain two positions following grid penalties for competitors to line up P18, while Checo will start from the back of the field due to his own grid penalties for changing PU elements. With rain also forecast for tomorrow, the team will look to build on its wet-weather pace and capitalize on opportunities in the race, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. local time tomorrow.

Checo Pérez: "The track conditions were tricky, but I think starting a little earlier was definitely the right call. Overall, there were a few complaints here and there, but we made good progress and felt competitive today, which was a positive sign. I was confident going into my final lap, thinking it was going to be the one, but I think I cooled the tires down a little too much and didn't get enough temperature into them. That was a bit unfortunate, as I feel we could have achieved a much better result. Hopefully, we'll get some rain and see how things develop from there."

Valtteri Bottas: "Some very tricky conditions today. The first two laps were more survival than qualifying, but I managed to keep it on track, and the pace looked quite promising in the early stages. We were able to get the tires working quite quickly, but then towards the end, we started overheating the rear tires and dropped to the back sadly. It was nice to have wet qualifying, with every other qualifying this year being dry - it always brings opportunities. Let's see what tomorrow brings for the race, as the forecast can be very unpredictable here, so we're hoping for some action and to make the most of any opportunities that come our way."

Marcin Budkowski, Team Principal: "An eventful day with dramatic weather conditions as we so often see here at Interlagos. During a dry FP3, we had a smooth session after electing to take a new ICE, turbo and MGUK on Checo's car following the issue in Mexico, and both drivers completed their run plans. Qualifying was a significant challenge operationally, and huge credit to the team in the garage and on the pitwall for responding well to the shifting conditions. Both our drivers also demonstrated their wealth of experience, putting in solid laps and keeping the car on the tarmac where others struggled with the wet conditions and got caught out. We had a shot at getting through to Q2 today, but ultimately we didn't manage to put everything together at the very end of the session when it mattered. Thank you to the fans who persevered through the delays and ultimately saw some great on-track action. We'll regroup tonight and prepare for another unpredictable day tomorrow, with more rain forecast ahead of the race."