Perez, Cadillac was skeptical: “But no one has done better in his place”
Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss has shed light on the reasoning behind the team’s decision to sign Sergio Perez for the 2026 Formula 1 season, pairing the Mexican driver with Finnish veteran Valtteri Bottas.
Lawson and Tsunoda “sent” Perez to Cadillac
At the conclusion of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship, Red Bull Racing decided to part ways with Sergio Perez, despite the fact that the Mexican still had one year left on his contract. Following his exit from the team, Perez distanced himself from the paddock and limited his public statements about his future to the bare minimum. Still, he kept one very clear goal in mind: returning to the Formula 1 grid. As 2025 progressed, that objective drew closer and closer to reality.
Interestingly, Perez did not need to actively campaign for a seat. His former Red Bull stand-ins, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, did that job for him in an indirect way. Over the course of 14 race weekends, the pair managed to collect a mere seven championship points combined. This tally was dramatically lower than the points haul Perez had managed in the second half of the 2024 season—even though that campaign had been considered a disaster by his standards. The comparison highlighted a key truth: the issue at Red Bull’s second seat was rooted in the car, not in the drivers themselves.
Dan Towriss explains Cadillac’s perspective
It is not surprising that Cadillac initially had reservations about bringing Sergio Perez on board at the beginning of 2025. However, those doubts faded as the championship unfolded and through early conversations with the Mexican driver. Dan Towriss explained: “Valtteri Bottas was racing every weekend, Sergio was not. For us, it was essential to understand how much Perez truly wanted to come back to Formula 1 and how much belief he had in our project. We could not have been more pleased with his response.”
The Cadillac CEO emphasized that Perez surpassed expectations during their discussions: “He answered every question we had with great clarity. We had some skepticism at first, but he gave us the confidence we needed. We are very happy to welcome him to our team.”
Dan Towriss also commented on the broader situation at Red Bull, noting how the team had struggled to find consistency with its second driver: “That whole Red Bull story was fascinating to follow. It is a team built around one driver, despite having two cars. Clearly, none of the other second drivers have achieved strong results.”
According to Dan Towriss, Cadillac carried out a detailed information-gathering process, even speaking extensively with people inside Milton Keynes to get feedback: “We invested a lot of time in conversations and research. The process was long, but it gave us confidence in Sergio. We were impressed by his determination to remain in Formula 1 and his desire to leave behind his final season with Red Bull.”
With those reassurances, Cadillac saw Perez as the ideal driver to join Valtteri Bottas in building the foundation of the American manufacturer’s ambitious Formula 1 project for 2026.
Leave a Reply