Cadillac has made a surprisingly strong start to its Formula 1 journey, but the pressure is already mounting. According to driver Sergio Perez, the team is "in a massive hurry to find performance" as it looks to stay competitive in its debut season.

Entering the championship this year with customer Ferrari power units, Cadillac has been locked in battle with the struggling Aston Martin-Honda squad at the back of the field. Perez described this rivalry as "great motivation" for his team, especially after a promising showing at the Miami Grand Prix.

In Florida, the Mexican driver briefly mixed it with the midfield, climbing to 15th in the sprint race and 13th in the grand prix before rivals fought back. Both races ultimately became three-way battles against Aston drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, with Perez narrowly losing out to the two-time world champion on each occasion.

"We're having fun with them, especially fighting Fernando—it's always a great thing because he's very aggressive and very fair," Perez said. Reflecting on strategy, he added: "We were degrading the tyres a little bit too much, and we chose the hard compound. In hindsight, I would have gone for soft. So it's something to analyse."

The former Red Bull driver remains optimistic but realistic about the challenges ahead. "There is a bit of work to do, but I'm confident we're heading in the right direction. At times, as soon as the degradation kicks in, we can run with the midfield—but they're able to pick up the pace quite a lot. It's a long season, but we're in a massive hurry to find performance because we know Aston is going to be improving, and we don't want to be left behind."

Cadillac's development race is particularly intense given Lawrence Stroll's massive investment into Aston Martin, which has poached key engineers from rival teams in recent years. Aston's brand-new simulator has been operational for about a year—though team principal Adrian Newey admitted it "wasn't on song until April"—and will be crucial as the Silverstone-based squad works to improve its AMR26.

With Aston Martin already facing a four-month development delay, Cadillac knows it must keep pushing hard. The clock is ticking, and every race weekend is a chance to close the gap. For fans of the sport, this budding rivalry at the back of the grid is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing storylines of 2025.