Sergio Pérez is back with a fresh badge on his overalls. Cadillac have confirmed the Mexican racer as part of their first Formula 1 line-up for 2026, pairing him with Valtteri Bottas.
It is a smart, steady move by a brand-new team that wants proven speed and calm racecraft on day one. The announcement lands after months of noise around Cadillac’s entry and ends the guessing game about their drivers.
Pérez brings six grand prix wins, years of setup feel, and a massive fanbase across the Americas.
Cadillac get a leader who knows the stress of title fights and the grind of midfield rebuilds. The timing is also right.
You know what’s interesting? Bottas and Pérez are the oldest driver line-up in F1.
F1 and the FIA signed off Cadillac as the 11th team for 2026 earlier this year, clearing the path for the brand to build up in public.
Why Pérez + Cadillac works
For a new team, experience is gold. Pérez and Bottas have more than 500 starts combined and the habit of bringing cars home.
That is priceless when you are learning how your car reacts to fuel, tyres, and traffic across 24 races. Early reports framed the pairing as safe, and that is fine.
Day one is about stability, development feedback, and building team routines that last.
There is also the market play. Pérez is a superstar in Mexico and the U.S. Spanish-speaking audience. That reach matters for a Detroit giant pushing a global racing story.
Inside the garage, Cadillac say Pérez is here for a new chapter, while Bottas calls the project a statement of intent. The message is simple: two proven winners to lead the launch.
The 2026 plan: engines, bases, timeline
Cadillac will start life with Ferrari power units in 2026, then switch to in-house GM Performance Power Units when they are homologated later in the decade.
The FIA has approved GM’s PU program to enter under the new rules, with the target set for 2029. In the meantime, Ferrari supply gives the team reliable hardware while GM build their own heart.
The structure looks clear. Graeme Lowdon, previously of Marussia/Virgin, is team principal. The racing base is in the UK at Silverstone, with U.S. operations supporting the program as GM scales up its power-unit facility.
This split model mirrors how other international teams run, but the Silverstone footprint gives access to F1-hardened talent and suppliers from the first test.
The entry approval landed on March 7, 2025, ending a long saga and confirming Cadillac as F1’s 11th team from 2026. Since then the driver question was the final big piece.
With Pérez and Bottas now locked, attention moves to car build, launch spec, and the first mileage. The job is simple to say and hard to do: finish races, learn fast, and chip away at points. Year one is about foundations.
Bottom line: Cadillac chose experience over a flashy gamble. Pérez fits the brief: quick, tough in traffic, and a steady voice on the radio.
With Bottas beside him, Ferrari power to start, and GM power coming, the project has a real, step-by-step plan. Now it is about execution.
