Sergio Perez is set to return to the Formula 1 grid in 2026 after securing a contract to race for Cadillac during their debut season. Max Verstappen, Perez’s former teammate at Red Bull, has offered important guidance emphasizing the need to enjoy this new chapter as Perez transitions to the American team.
Verstappen Encourages Perez to Embrace the New Opportunity with Cadillac
After a challenging final year alongside Verstappen at Red Bull, Sergio Perez parted ways with the team at the end of 2024. Despite having achieved five of his six Grand Prix wins while with Red Bull, the inconsistencies in his last season led to his departure. Now, Perez will race alongside Valtteri Bottas, forming a veteran driver duo for Cadillac’s inaugural F1 campaign.
Perez has expressed his determination not to let his F1 career conclude on a disappointing note. Verstappen believes that for Perez to thrive with Cadillac, the enjoyment of racing and embracing this fresh start is essential. Reflecting on Perez’s future, Verstappen commented,
“I mean, it’s a fresh start now,”
highlighting the importance of viewing a single difficult season as not defining a driver’s entire career.
He added,
“I think also from his side, just one half of, or a season doesn’t define what you can do, right? I mean, I think he is also quite easy in that. Some people maybe dwell on it a bit more.”
Verstappen sees the change as energizing:
“I think for Checo, it’s a new start. You’re excited: new cars, complete new cars, also.”
He further praised Perez’s past achievements, saying,
“And he has shown a lot of great things even before he got to Red Bull, during the Red Bull time. So yeah, he just needs to go in there, enjoy it again, and have a good time.”
Cadillac’s Experienced Line-up and Perez’s Value to the Team
While young driver Jak Crawford had been mentioned as a potential candidate, Cadillac opted for the reliable pairing of Perez and Bottas. Between them, they bring 16 Grand Prix victories—Perez with six and Bottas with ten—alongside a wealth of experience in F1.
Verstappen highlighted Perez’s broad knowledge gained from working with various teams, noting,
“He has driven for a lot of different teams, so he knows a lot of things about how teams work,”
which is crucial since every team operates differently.
He elaborated on how this diversity of experience allows Perez to understand team strengths and weaknesses:
“So that’s already, I think, a very interesting trait that sometimes, you know, is nice to understand what people are good at, or where some teams are worse at. That’s how it goes.”
Verstappen also pointed out Perez’s familiarity with multiple regulations over the years, which gives him insight into how cars perform under different technical rules:
“Also, the behaviour of the cars. He has been in a lot of different regulations, a lot of different rulesets, where other things were allowed, some were not allowed, got banned.”
This knowledge could help Cadillac as they look to develop a competitive vehicle for their F1 debut.
Challenges and Expectations for Cadillac’s First Season
Verstappen acknowledged the difficulty Cadillac will face breaking into Formula 1, stressing the importance of Perez’s expertise to help the team progress. He said,
“Hopefully, that will push them forward in the beginning, because it’s never easy to jump into Formula 1 and be competitive, of course, straight away. But yeah, we’ll see how that goes.”
The combination of Perez’s resilience and Bottas’s measured experience offers Cadillac a solid foundation, though their competitiveness in the 2026 season remains to be seen. The new regulations and challenges faced by teams next year will test the team’s capability to quickly adapt and improve.
Overall, Max Verstappen’s cautious but hopeful advice underscores the value of Perez’s mindset as he embarks on this new chapter with Cadillac, encouraging him to focus on enjoying the sport while applying his broad F1 experience effectively.
