Multiple reports indicate the Cadillac Formula 1 team have hired Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as its inaugural full-time drivers.
The duo, who were replaced at Red Bull Racing and Sauber, respectively, come with plenty of necessary grid experience (as well as sizeable sponsorship dollars).
Cadillac F1 joins the sport of Formula 1 at a pivotal transition stage in 2026.
Cadillac’s Formula 1 team has opted to fill its seats with two of the most experienced free agents on the market, according to ESPN.
Inside sources reveal Sergio “Checo” Perez and Valtteri Bottas are set to end their short-lived sabbaticals from full-time driving – both of whom were apparently courted as potential replacements for Franco Colapinto at Alpine before being offered contracts by the incoming eleventh team.
Bar the now-retired Daniel Ricciardo, this is perhaps the greatest possible partnership the nascent race outfit could have hoped to wrangle.
16 race wins, 106 podiums, 23 pole positions, and 3,435 career points between them aside, both Perez and Bottas notably come from major championship-winning dynasties: Red Bull Racing and Mercedes F1. The crucial insights attached to their pedigree will no doubt be invaluable for a fresh grid entrant.
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(Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
And who knows what feats they’ll be able to pull off now that neither is being forced to play second-string to generational motorsport talents protected by an additional layer of team orders? Especially in the case of a vindicated Perez, whose Red Bull successors in Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have only proven the issue is the Verstappen-centric car.
Well over US$30 million in annual sponsorship money certainly can’t hurt, either.
While the pilots have yet to be formally announced (this line-up is expected to be confirmed ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix), we know the car will use a Ferrari-produced power unit until GM/Cadillac develops its own engine by the end of the decade (on the path to becoming a full-works team).
“As the pinnacle of motorsports, F1 demands boundary-pushing innovation and excellence,” said GM President Mark Reuss.
“It’s an honour for General Motors and Cadillac to join the world’s premier racing series, and we’re committed to competing with passion and integrity to elevate the sport for race fans around the world.”
“This is a global stage for us to demonstrate GM’s engineering expertise and technology leadership at an entirely new level.”
Mario Andretti – the 1978 Formula 1 champion and key figure in the earlier bids to enter an eleventh team – is also understood to be serving as an ambassadorial director on GM/Cadillac’s board. In a statement separate from Formula 1’s initial press statement, he expressed the following:
“My first love was Formula 1 and now – 70 years later – the F1 paddock is still my happy place. I’m absolutely thrilled with Cadillac, Formula 1, Mark Walter, and Dan Towriss. To still be involved at this stage of my life… I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.”
Additionally, Cadillac retains the “experienced team” it assembled during the last bid to work on aerodynamics, chassis, and component development, as well as software and vehicle dynamics simulation. These specialists have operations dotted across the globe from Fishers, Indiana and Warren, Michigan to Silverstone, England.
It’s like we said before: between all this, Audi’s takeover of Sauber, Ford’s partnership with Red Bull Racing, Honda’s full-scale return via Aston Martin, and the forthcoming regulation updates… 2026 promises to be interesting.