Cadillac complete F1 driver line-up with second signing

Cadillac has signed a deal with Sergio Perez to bring the Mexican driver back to F1 next year, RacingNews365 and Formula.hu understand.

It is expected that Cadillac will present both Valtteri Bottas and Perez as its 2026 line-up as early as next week.

Perez departed the F1 grid at the end of the 2024 season following a turbulent year with Red Bull but has asserted he would be keen to rejoin the right project.

RacingNews365 revealed earlier this week that Bottas had signed with the squad, with the Finn also completing an F1 comeback. 

Cadillac will join the field next season, marking the first campaign since 2016 that sees the grid expand beyond 10 teams.

The official announcement of its driver line-up is set to come as the summer break winds down, allowing it to stick to its schedule quite reasonably. 

At first, it declared it wished to announce a driver before the summer break, which was then later adjusted to halfway through the summer break.

While the announcement is coming at the end of the shutdown period, it is in a position to reveal both drivers in one go.

Despite the fact that other younger drivers were also in the running for the drives, the outfit led by Graeme Lowdon opted for experience.

As well as the two having over 500 grand prix starts combined, Cadillac has committed to a race-winning line-up, as Bottas and Perez have 10 and six grand prix wins respectively.

Like Bottas, Perez will also hope to start his integration with Cadillac through a TPC (testing of previous cars) as early as this year.

This would involve Cadillac using an older Ferrari car ahead of the start of the Italian squad's agreement to supply the American team with power units next year.

Perez spent his last four years in F1 alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull, who declared his desire to see the Mexican driver return earlier this year.

"I always got along very well with Checo,” Verstappen said. 

“As long as he is motivated to drive, then I think that is absolutely, even with such a new team, a good choice. 

“Because if you look at how Checo drove at Force India, Racing Point or whatever you called it, he always picked up the points anyway.”

What other F1 seats are yet to be decided?

With the Cadillac F1 seats filled, there are very few seats yet to be confirmed on next year's grid.

Mercedes is expected to announce George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in the near future, marking an unchanged line-up for the Brackley-based squad.

After that, only the seats at the Red Bull stables and Alpine are yet to be announced.

Alpine will likely be between Franco Colapinto and Jack Doohan, but at Red Bull, it is unclear who will drive alongside Max Verstappen in 2026.

It is also uncertain if Arvid Lindblad will make his debut at Racing Bulls next year and it's a situation that is not likely to be resolved anytime soon, as Red Bull take its time to decide on its 2026 line-ups.