The Cadillac Formula 1 Team’s inaugural season continues to be a challenging one, with both cars finishing near the back of the field Sunday in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

While the race itself produced one of Formula 1’s most memorable moments — Italian driver Kimi Antonelli charged from 19th on the starting grid to win his home Grand Prix for Mercedes — Cadillac was unable to keep pace with the sport’s established teams.

Sergio “Checo” Perez finished 18th, while teammate Valtteri Bottas crossed the line 19th after a difficult 53-lap race. The only teams Cadillac finished ahead of were the two Aston Martin entries.

Perez said the team struggled with straight-line speed throughout the race.

“It was a very difficult race for us,” Perez said after the event. “We were losing a lot of time on the straights, which made it extremely difficult to fight the cars around us.”

Despite the disappointing result, Cadillac officials pointed to one positive: both cars reached the finish after reliability problems affected the team at the previous race in the Netherlands. The organization also says aerodynamic and power unit upgrades are expected later this season.

The on-track growing pains have local significance in Fishers, where Cadillac Formula 1 is developing its North American headquarters. The facility is expected to become a major engineering and technology hub supporting the team’s Formula 1 operation and is anticipated to bring hundreds of high-skilled jobs to the city over the coming years.

Although the race results have fallen short of expectations, Formula 1 observers have noted that expansion teams historically face a steep learning curve while competing against organizations with decades of experience.

Cadillac’s focus now turns to next weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, where the team hopes planned upgrades will help close the performance gap as it continues building toward long-term competitiveness in Formula 1.