Cadillac has confirmed its first driver line-up in Formulation 1 can be shaped by Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas in 2026.
F1’s latest entrant will be a part of the grid subsequent season, and has been focusing on expertise in a minimum of one in every of its two race seats because it continues to construct the crew from scratch. The Normal Motors and TWG Motorsports backed outfit has now signed a pair of a number of race-winners, with six-time winner Perez returning to the grid after being dropped by Crimson Bull on the finish of final season.
“Becoming a member of the Cadillac Formulation 1 Group is an extremely thrilling new chapter in my profession,” Perez stated. “From our first conversations, I might sense the eagerness and willpower behind this challenge. It is an honor to be a part of a constructing a crew that may develop collectively in order that, in time, we are going to struggle on the very entrance.
“Cadillac is a legendary title in American motorsport, and to assist convey such a improbable firm to Formulation 1 is a big duty, one I’m assured of taking over.
“I’m proud to be a part of such an formidable and significant challenge from the very starting. I’m actually happy to be a part of such a dynamic line-up, and collectively I consider we might help form this crew into an actual contender, the crew of the Americas. We’re relying on help from throughout the continent – and we wish to make everybody proud.”
Alongside Perez can be former Mercedes, Williams and Sauber driver Bottas, who has 10 wins to his title and an extra 67 podiums, culminating in a mixed complete of over 100 podiums and greater than 500 race begins between the pair.
Perez will return to the F1` grid for the primary time since splitting with Crimson Bull on the finish of 2024. Mark Thompson/Getty Pictures
“From the second I started talking with the Cadillac Formulation 1 Group, I felt one thing totally different – one thing formidable but in addition grounded,” Bottas stated. “This isn’t only a racing challenge; it’s a long-term imaginative and prescient. It isn’t day-after-day that you simply get an opportunity to be a part of one thing being constructed from the bottom up and serving to form it into one thing that actually belongs on the F1 grid.
“I’ve had the consideration of working with a number of the finest groups on this planet, and I can already see the identical professionalism and starvation right here. That is an iconic model with a giant legacy in American motorsport, and to be part of the story because it enters the world stage of F1 is extremely particular for me. I’m trying ahead to representing the American spirit of racing on the best circuits on this planet.
“I’d additionally wish to thank Mercedes for his or her unwavering help and sportsmanship in facilitating such an thrilling step.”
Talks with Mercedes are ongoing that might permit Bottas to begin work with Cadillac previous to the tip of the present season, and crew principal Graeme Lowdon says each drivers will play a serious function within the new crew’s growth.
“Signing two very skilled racers like Bottas and Checo is a daring sign of intent,” Lowdon stated. “They’ve seen all of it and so they know what it takes to achieve Formulation 1. However extra importantly, they perceive what it means to assist construct a crew.
“Their management, suggestions, race-hardened instincts and naturally their velocity can be invaluable as we convey this crew to life. A giant thanks to the crew at Mercedes for his or her co-operation and understanding.”
