Why Cadillac F1 held ‘thorough’ Red Bull talks before signing Sergio Perez

The first Cadillac F1 driver line-up is confirmed, as Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas prepare for a return to the grid in F1 2026.

The incoming American squad has done its due diligence, a process which included lengthy discussions with Red Bull, a team which Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss described as being “built around one driver”. Those interactions, and discussions with Perez, left the team more than satisfied with that signing.

Cadillac F1 confirm Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas

Additional reporting by Mat Coch

Cadillac has very much gone with experience for its first F1 driver line-up. In signing Perez and Bottas, they have acquired drivers boasting a combined 527 grand prix starts, and 16 victories, 10 for Bottas and six for Perez. Both have Constructors’ Championship-winning experiencing, Perez with Red Bull and Bottas with Mercedes.

Both drivers lost their seat at the end of 2024. But, while Bottas has remained in the loop as Mercedes reserve after his Sauber departure, Perez has been absent from the F1 scene.

“Certainly, there was a lot of conversation around the gap – having been out for a full year,” Towriss said of Perez, as per The Race.

“When you look at Valtteri, he’s at the track every weekend, right? And so it was important for us to know where Sergio is at, in terms of his desire to be back in F1 and also his belief in our project, in leading the Cadillac F1 team.

“But we couldn’t have been more pleased with his response. In our meetings with him, he outperformed, I guess you could say.

“We had questions. We had scepticism around some of these things, and he answered all of our questions, and passed our tests, I guess, with flying colours. So we were pleased to put him forward.”

As well as analysing Bottas’ Sauber situation in-depth as part of their driver recruitment process, Towriss described Red Bull as the “more complicated scenario”.

Perez left the team off the back of an underwhelming 2024 campaign, though the F1 veteran has been somewhat vindicated by the subsequent struggles experienced by Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.

Cadillac F1 left no stone unturned when they spoke with Red Bull to understand what had been going on with Perez.

“A team that’s really built around one driver, but has two,” Towriss said in reference to Red Bull, “and clearly none of the other drivers have fared well in that second seat, from that standpoint.

“So we did take a lot of time to talk to people at Red Bull and get information and feedback.

“The process was lengthy and thorough from that standpoint. And again, what that means is, having looked through all that, we feel very good about Checo, his desire to be in F1, to make a statement, to show the performance that he has, and put that last season or so from Red Bull in the rear view mirror.”

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While Perez is highly motivated for his F1 return with Cadillac, he does not arrive feeling like he has a point to prove.

The aforementioned issued experienced by his initial Red Bull replacement, Lawson, and by his successor Tsunoda, have not been lost on Perez.

Lawson was afforded just two, point-less races before Red Bull demoted him back to Racing Bulls and called-up Yuki Tsunoda. Since then only seven points have been provided by Tsunoda.

“I don’t feel like there’s [anything] to prove,” Perez confirmed to media, including PlanetF1.com.

“Not just because of the struggles of the current drivers or the next drivers that take that seat, but even before that.

“Now everyone forgets about it, but it’s been a very tricky place to be in, to constantly be adapting, to build confidence.

“Mentally, it’s a very unique challenge.

“I don’t think I have anything to prove. When you see the amount of points they’ve scored, it’s [something] like five points in the entire season, so I’ve got nothing to prove in that regard.

“To me, it’s more of a coming back to enjoy the sport. I want to enjoy the sport, the sport that I love, the sport that has given me so much.

“I couldn’t afford to leave the way I left the sport.

“It’s why I’m coming back with this new project and I hope it’s a very successful one.

“But amongst that, other than anything, I want to enjoy this comeback.”

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