Cadillac’s initial F1 driver lineup has been officially announced, and the revelation includes much more than just confirming that Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas will compete for F1’s newest team in 2026.
This is what we have discovered from talking to the Cadillac team’s owners, its team principal, and Perez and Bottas directly.
Perez doubts needed resolving
Both Perez and Bottas are returning to the F1 track after a year out, but their situations have differed significantly.
Although Bottas remained involved in the racing world by serving as a test and reserve driver for Mercedes, Perez chose to stay at home following a challenging final season at Red Bull, which concluded with him being compensated to depart the team two years prior to the conclusion of his contract.
Cadillac was quickly convinced by its assessment of Bottas’s final season with Sauber in 2024 that he still possessed the skills and motivation to be a valuable addition.
Perez was also quickly included on Cadillac’s list of potential drivers, but the circumstances surrounding his performance issues at Red Bull and his subsequent departure led Cadillac’s leadership to have “questions and doubts,” as stated by Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss.
He mentioned there was also “a lot of discussion” within the team regarding Perez’s absence for an entire year. Therefore, Cadillac took the initiative to reach out to Red Bull staff to learn about what Perez experienced, as well as meeting with Perez and having an extensive conversation about his situation.
And Towriss stated they “could not have been more pleased” with their findings, noting that Perez “exceeded” expectations during their in-person meeting, thus “passing our tests with flying colors.”
Additionally, there’s the reality of what has happened to his successors. Perez’s replacement, Liam Lawson, performed even worse and was released after only two races, and since then, Yuki Tsunoda has not exactly stood out.
This has helped clarify the perception that it was more of a Red Bull issue than a Perez problem.
In the meantime, Perez emphasizes that he is simply looking forward to enjoying his return to F1 and feels he has nothing left to demonstrate after his time at Red Bull. As he noted, his successors have only accumulated seven points between them, which essentially means “they’ve proven my point for me.”
Bottas’ Mercedes continuation is underway
Although Towriss acknowledged that Cadillac had to address Perez’s wish to return to F1 and his confidence in the team’s project, Bottas was a simpler case since he was present at every race weekend.
However, this presented its own challenges: Bottas has numerous responsibilities with Mercedes. He isn’t there solely to create casual social media content. Mercedes created a testing plan according to Bottas’s availability, and he serves as their primary backup driver.
Moving forward from that appears to remain unsettled. Towriss mentions they are “still working through some of the details there,” and it hasn’t been determined “when his regular job will transition from Mercedes to Cadillac.”
It’s unlikely to face significant opposition, considering Bottas has already addressed the media regarding his move to Cadillac. Everything is proceeding smoothly.
A press release from Cadillac highlighted Bottas and Towriss expressing gratitude to Mercedes for their assistance, although humorously it failed to clarify what that assistance entailed or even acknowledge that Bottas had previously been a Mercedes driver!
Additionally, team principal Graeme Lowdon took the initiative to provide a second response to a different question during another press conference, expressing gratitude once more to Mercedes and Toto Wolff, stating that they have been “very helpful in our discussions with Valtteri and in arranging a smooth transition at the right time.”
However, all indications suggest that Bottas will finish the season as Mercedes’ backup driver, which will restrict the extent of his contributions to Cadillac, even if it doesn’t completely prevent his participation.
Testing a track in an old Ferrari
Although Bottas’s complete participation remains uncertain, Perez is able to begin his work right away.
That means planning a factory visit, piling into simulator running, and even doing some on-track running in an old car later in the year.
Although there are no old Cadillacs available for private testing, obtaining a vehicle that is at least two years old from a competitor is allowed.
Perez suggested a plan to conduct tests using an F1 car this year, and when we inquired with Lowdon, he confirmed that they will implement real-car testing this year in collaboration with another team, as Cadillac does not have its own.
The group is anticipated to make use of its collaboration with engine provider Ferrari to operate a 2022 or 2023 vehicle.
Cadillac is already replicating full grand prix weekends, but this will enhance its data collection efforts and assist the team in familiarizing themselves and preparing for real-world competition.
There will also be additional advantages to running in the real world even if it involves using someone else’s car, such as helping Perez get back to his usual performance level after a year away.
What’s convinced the drivers
As one would anticipate with a new announcement, there is no denying the interest and excitement that both Bottas and Perez have for the project.
Nevertheless, when we received word from them, neither was feigning that this would mark a comeback to the level of success they previously experienced at Mercedes and Red Bull.
They will certainly receive strong financial rewards for joining this project, along with the possibility of a long-term association with major American brands and the chance to be involved in a Le Mans racing program in the future.
However, both Bottas and Perez are drawn to the concept of assisting in constructing a team from scratch. There remains a genuine conviction that they can contribute, along with an incentive to remain in F1, as neither departed the sport on their own terms last year.
They have faced different situations. Perez required some time to deal with his departure from Red Bull and take a break from F1, in order to rekindle his passion for racing.
In the meantime, Bottas specifically chose his Mercedes position with the goal of remaining visible and being in a spot to finalize this Cadillac deal. He is aware that it will be a “mountain” of work, but that’s precisely why he wants to be involved and, as he put it, “get my hands dirty with the team.”
Both are well aware that Cadillac will face significant challenges next year, and Bottas has repeatedly mentioned that Lowdon made it clear in their discussions that the beginning would be tough.
However, they are concentrating more on what advancements can be achieved and the role they can take in unlocking the project’s capabilities.
American drivers not part of the competition
The possibility of an American driver joining the team has always appeared unlikely, or not a serious option in the near future.
There were multiple possibilities if Cadillac aimed to have an American driver: co-owner TWG owns the Andretti IndyCar team, providing straightforward access to race champions Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood. Additionally, Aston Martin’s young talent Jak Crawford, who is competing for the Formula 2 championship, was a candidate from the traditional F1 single-seater pathway.
Towriss mentioned that one of Cadillac’s objectives is to ensure there is a route for more Americans to enter F1, and they will be focusing on this.
However, Cadillac’s focus on F1 experience, along with Herta’s continued superlicence ineligibility, made it unlikely for American drivers to be realistic candidates for its first lineup.
The ‘unanimous’ priority
Given everything Cadillac is accomplishing for its inaugural F1 season, and the magnitude of the task ahead, it was inevitable that they would secure at least one seasoned driver to assist in establishing the team.
There was a significant group of young drivers present, including former F1 drivers Zhou Guanyu, Mick Schumacher, Jack Doohan, and upcoming newcomers such as Felipe Drugovich and Paul Aron.
However, it soon became “unanimous” among stakeholders to enhance the experience by securing two experienced F1 drivers for both positions, with some others like Schumacher possibly serving as a reserve or simulator driver.
Towriss mentioned that excluding younger drivers was a “difficult” choice, but “experience in F1 ultimately influenced the decision.”
Throughout all the previous communication, there has been a strong focus on the impact Perez and Bottas will have on the team and car development.
Towriss highlighted “their experience, leadership, and technical expertise” as qualities the team truly requires, whereas Mark Reuss, head of General Motors, emphasized the development side extensively.
Reuss even stated that the input from drivers into the car’s development will be a “landmark in the history books for Cadillac.”
Contrasting narratives
There are evidently two distinct threads in the Cadillac story as the different team members determine their focus areas.
A team owned by GM that will be a full factory entry and has endured a great deal to make it onto the grid cannot be established without high expectations. Therefore, Cadillac’s messaging is unsurprisingly quite ambitious and features some American flair in certain areas.
Towriss has described the driver news as “more than just a lineup announcement, it’s the start of a daring new era in American motorsport.” Reuss states, “we’re laying the groundwork for American motorsports that will leave an exceptional legacy for Cadillac, GM, and the sport.”
But none of that is likely to occur anytime soon. Next year, Cadillac is expected to be at the rear of the grid.
It could be the last by a significant margin, but even if it’s not that bad, no realistic member of the team is expecting a repeat of F1’s most recent new team, Haas, scoring points on its debut.
Therefore, despite the growing hype, it remains very unclear because setting a schedule would be impractical.
The long-term vision that this project will eventually be great and successful is being counterbalanced by Lowdon, who has personal experience with the challenges of F1.
Lowdon served as CEO of the Virgin/Marussia/Manor F1 team, which made its debut in F1 in 2010, until he stepped down at the end of 2015. He is now emphasizing that the short-term period will be extremely challenging — a view that has been echoed by Cadillac’s new drivers as well.
Engine ‘ahead of schedule’
There’s a vast amount of work to complete before the start of 2026 – so much that the team will not reveal its car until after it has been tested in the January private session.
Perhaps this will be standard for all teams, but it could also be viewed as Cadillac needing every available day to test on the track for the first time. Towriss mentioned that it won’t be until February next year before Cadillac is ready to unveil its “final product” for 2026.
What is more motivating is the long-term engine initiative, with a factory engine set to be developed in 2029.
Reuss stated that progress is proceeding as planned and mentioned that the engines being tested on the bench are already beginning to take shape as larger, more comprehensive units.
Towriss took it a step further, expressing strong confidence in the overall health of the project. He stated that the engine development, headed by Russ O’Blenes, is “actually ahead of schedule more than people realize.”
It is uncommon for any manufacturer to be satisfied with its engine development. The best possible situation is that GM’s efforts are truly progressing well – but the worst possible scenario is that it is either underestimating the extent of work required or has set its initial goals too low.
No matter the outcome, Towriss is emphasizing how well this large operation has come together in a relatively short time, and he states he is “very, very satisfied with the progress and the direction.”
