Cadillac F1 Team Finalizes Driver Lineup for 2026 Season
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Formula One presenter Lawrence Barretto has revealed that the Cadillac F1 team has finalized its driver lineup for the 2026 season with Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, and only the formalities remain pending before an announcement is made.
Cadillac received its approval to join the F1 grid in March as the sport's eleventh team. The outfit has been gearing up to develop the organization from scratch and build a capable car.
The American team has also been in talks with several drivers in recent months, and its preference has been to have an experienced F1 driver who could assist it in its initial years in the premier class of motorsport.
Barretto, reporting from Spa-Francorchamps, mentioned Perez and Bottas as the names Cadillac wants to sign for its F1 debut, while speaking about the Alpine F1 team, with which Bottas was recently linked. He said:
People attend an event to unveil the colors for the 2026 Cadillac debut in Formula One racing, ahead of the 2025 Miami Formula One Grand Prix, in Miami Beach, Florida, on May 3, 2025.
People attend an event to unveil the colors for the 2026 Cadillac debut in Formula One racing, ahead of the 2025 Miami Formula One Grand Prix, in Miami Beach, Florida, on May 3, 2025.
Giorgio VIERA / AFP/Getty Images
"Bottas has obviously been linked with Alpine. But actually, I think the most likely landing spot for him is Cadillac, and we haven't talked about them yet.
"But I hear that they haven't got any contracts done — not even any head of terms — but Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas are the two drivers that they want at that team, and it's just a case of them going through the motions of it.
"So it might be some time until we find that out, and obviously, there is still some time that that could change. But that's where we're looking, I think."
Perez and Bottas had been racing in F1 for a long time and possess the required experience to elevate a team like Cadillac. Perez is currently out of the sport after Red Bull parted ways with him last year. Bottas is currently a reserve driver at Mercedes, where he is also mentoring rookie driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
While Bottas has revealed his interest in Cadillac in the past, Perez has also spoken on being part of a new project that he strongly resonated with. Newsweek Sports reported the Mexican driver's comments from last month. He said:
"The answer is yes, I do want to return, but only if the right project comes along, one where I feel I truly belong or should be.
"I don't want to come back at any cost. I'm not interested in traveling around the world as a third driver or just waiting around for an opportunity.
"I feel fortunate for the career I've had, and I do want to come back - because I don't want my career to end like this.
"But I'm also fully aware that I'll only return if it's truly worth the price you have to pay to be in Formula 1 - 24 races, and an entire life dedicated to the sport."
When asked if he would be a value addition for a team like Cadillac, Perez said:
"Yes, I believe it 100 per cent. If you look at my years with Force India, and then later with Red Bull - pushing the team forward race by race, and eventually becoming a winning team - that's exactly the kind of environment I'm looking for.
"A team with that mentality, that unity. For me, that's more important than any trophy or achievement: finding a project where the driver feels truly motivated."
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