Cadillac confirms Bottas and Perez as F1 pairing for 2026

Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez were confirmed on Tuesday as the driver pairing for the Cadillac Formula 1 Team as the American marque prepares to join the grid for the 2026 season. The veteran duo will lead Cadillac into a year that coincides with a major regulatory reset in F1, with the team publicly unveiled at an event in New York and both drivers signing multiyear deals, reports said.

Cadillac says it has chosen experience to steady its inaugural campaign. Bottas, 36, and Perez, 35, bring a combined 527 Grand Prix starts, 16 race wins and more than 100 podiums to an operation that must build a car and an organisation largely from scratch. Bottas spent five seasons at Mercedes and won 10 grands prix; Perez has six wins and played a key role in Red Bull’s recent constructors success. Both were without race seats in 2025, with Bottas working as Mercedes reserve driver and Perez taking time away from the sport after his exit from Red Bull.

From the moment I began speaking with the Cadillac Formula 1 Team, I felt something different, Bottas said, calling the project ambitious but grounded and adding that he was grateful to Mercedes for facilitating the move. Perez described...