Cadillac chose well, naming a pair of veteran drivers to launch its high-profile entry into Formula 1 racing.
Drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez bring a wealth of experience — a combined 527 races, 16 victories and 109 podiums — to the startup team, which will run its first race March 8, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia.
The drivers’ “vast experience on Formula 1 circuits” will be a crucial part of the team’s development, General Motor President Mark Reuss said.
Widely seen as the pinnacle of global motor sports, F1 has glamour, speed, high technology and celebrity. It’s key to Cadillac’s program to reestablish itself as a top worldwide luxury brand alongside perennial F1 stars Mercedes and Ferrari.
“Everybody’s new” on the team, said Dan Towriss, CEO of Cadillac F1 Racing and TWG Global, the holding company that’s GM’s partner.
GM is developing the race car and engine to meet a new set of rules for the 2026 season.
The car will begin on-road testing in January, but won’t be seen by the public until February.
‘The right drivers at the right time’
Until then, Bottas and Perez can contribute to development using advanced driving simulators in GM’s tech center in Charlotte, North Carolina, which also provides engineering and artificial intelligence strategy analysis for GM racing teams. Cadillac F1 also has a tech center in Silverstone, England, the heart of F1 engineering, and headquarters in Fishers, Indiana.
The engine and transmission are on track to be ready in 2029, Towriss said. Until then, Cadillac F1 will use Ferrari engines, a common practice in F1, where manufacturers typically sell engines to several competitors. In fact, GM expects to eventually sell its engines to other teams.
The new engines combine internal combustion and electric power in a sophisticated — and as yet unproven — hybrid system.
“Bottas and Perez are the right drivers at the right time” for a new team learning the ropes of F1’s many varied tracks and long schedule, Towriss said.
Drive to survive
The F1 season runs from March to December. It includes 24 races on every continent except Antarctica and Africa — but may return to South Africa, which hosted races frequently from 1960 to 1993.
It’s physically and mentally grueling. Intense travel followed by two days of practice runs, qualifying and occasional sprint races before Sunday’s featured races.
There had been calls for an American driver, but Cadillac chose experience over that easy headline. It’s getting into F1 to elevate its brand, not any individual.
German driver Michael Schumacher won five straight F1 championships for Ferrari, but nobody ever doubted it’s an Italian brand. Englishman Lewis Hamilton won six at the wheel of a Mercedes, and that brand remains an icon of German engineering.
Success on the track trumps the driver’s passport.
No American driver can match the resumés of Bottas and Perez. In addition, Cadillac will struggle initially. Every new team does. It’ll be a triumph if the team finishes in the top half of the standings in 2026.
‘An incredibly exciting new chapter’
Bottas, an easygoing Finn, is currently Mercedes’ backup driver, which means he has to attend every race. Cadillac is negotiating to free him to concentrate on his new gig.
“I’ve had the honor of working with some of the best teams in the world, and I can already see the same professionalism and hunger here,” Bottas said.
Perez is a free agent, cut loose by Red Bull Racing at the end of 2024. Red Bull may already regret that decision, as the drivers replacing the likable veteran nicknamed “Checo” have struggled.
That’s Cadillac’s good fortune, enhanced by the fact that Perez is hugely popular in his native Mexico, a key GM market.
“Joining the Cadillac Formula 1 team is an incredibly exciting new chapter in my career,” Perez said. “It’s an honor to be part of a building a team that can develop together so that, in time, we will fight at the very front..”
F1 is an unrivaled global platform from which to market cars, technology, style and sophistication. It can also be a quick way to burn a shipping container full of cash. Just competing isn’t enough. You must eventually win races and compete for championships.
The selection of drivers who flatten the learning curve may put Cadillac on track to do that.
Contact Mark Phelan: mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cadillac picks veteran drivers to flatten its F1 learning curve
Reporting by Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
