Sergio Perez Eyes Fresh Start With Cadillac as 2026 F1 Season Nears

Sergio Perez is gearing up for what might well be the last big dance of his F1 career, swapping the high-speed chaos of Red Bull for Cadillac’s fresh gamble in 2026. The guy didn’t just leave Red Bull last year, he bolted after a rollercoaster season, ending months of whispers about where he’d land. Now, teamed with Valtteri Bottas—talk about a pair of old hands—they’re diving headfirst into a brand-new mess.

Let’s not sugarcoat it: Cadillac’s got a mountain to climb. F1’s not exactly a cakewalk, especially with a whole new rulebook shaking things up. While Bottas has been putting in the work, grinding through test sessions all year, Perez? He’d been cooling his heels since that bittersweet Red Bull farewell in Abu Dhabi. That changed fast when he finally slipped behind the wheel of a tricked-out 2023 Ferrari at Imola in November. Rust? What rust? He was on it like he’d never left.

Nobody knows how this Cadillac experiment will pan out. The midfield’s a toss-up, and the team’s a wildcard. But Perez isn’t losing sleep over predictions. He’s itching to build something from scratch, to push the team forward when the lights go green.

That fire’s a far cry from the brutal slog of his final Red Bull days. Early 2024 had him flying, stacking podiums like they were going out of style—then boom. Imola hit like a gut punch, kicking off a nightmare of shaky qualis, costly wrecks, and rumors swirling about his seat. Even a midseason contract extension didn’t quiet the noise. By Mexico, the home race from hell, things were toast. Abu Dhabi was just the breakup nobody saw coming.

Yeah, it messed with his head. Hard not to when the wheels come off that spectacularly. But Cadillac’s clean slate? That’s the lifeline he needed. One last shot to rewrite the ending his way—no mess, no pressure, just racing like he means it.

Via Cadillac