{"id":426937,"date":"2026-01-21T04:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T04:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/426937\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T04:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T04:20:12","slug":"checo-perez-and-valtteri-bottas-return-to-the-grid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/426937\/","title":{"rendered":"Checo P\u00e9rez and Valtteri Bottas return to the grid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The American team\u2019s announcement brings two seasoned race winners back into competition and adds experience to a grid undergoing significant change.<\/p>\n<p>P\u00e9rez, 35, returns after a year away from a full-time seat following his departure from Red Bull, bringing over a decade of F1 experience, including multiple Grand Prix victories. Bottas, also 35, comes back after a season as Mercedes\u2019 reserve driver, the Finn having last raced full-time in 2024 with Alfa Romeo\/Sauber.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768969212_408_ImageResizer.ashx.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>For Cadillac, the duo\u2019s depth of experience \u2013 not just as drivers but also as drivers with experience racing for grand prix-winning teams \u2013 will be valuable as the new outfit navigates the challenges of its first season, with both drivers expected to play key roles in shaping the team\u2019s development and competitive strategy.<\/p>\n<p>Their return also adds depth to the 2026 grid as Formula One enters a new technical era, with the sport\u2019s expanded field and revised regulations set to test every team\u2019s readiness and adaptability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The American team\u2019s announcement brings two seasoned race winners back into competition and adds experience to a grid&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-426937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}