Finlay McSporran
Published: 14:47, 27th August 2025
After days of speculation and rumours, F1 newest team has confirmed that Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas will be driving for them next year.
It’s been F1’s worst kept secret in what has otherwise been a very quiet summer break. But now, as the second half of the season gets underway this week, fans finally have something to talk about.
“A depth of experience”
Those were the words that General Motors president Mark Reuss used to describe Bottas and Perez and what they could bring to the team. General Motors is the parent company of Cadillac, and Mr Reuss believes that their new drivers “are a welcome addition to the Cadillac racing family”.
The combination of ten time Grand Prix winner Bottas and six time winner Perez makes this one of the most experienced driver pairings that F1 has ever seen, with a combined 527 race starts between them.
Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon said: “They’ve seen it all and they know what it takes to succeed in Formula 1. But more importantly, they understand what it means to help build a team”.
Both Bottas and Perez raced for title-winning teams and know what it takes to succeed in F1.
Valtteri Bottas raced for Mercedes when they were still dominating F1 from 2017-2021, and said: “this isn’t just a racing project; it’s a long-term vision”.
“It’s not every day that you get a chance to be part of something being built from the ground up and helping shape it into something that truly belongs on the F1 grid.”
His new teammate Sergio Perez said: “Joining the Cadillac Formula 1 Team is an incredibly exciting new chapter in my career. I’m proud to be part of such an ambitious and meaningful project from the very beginning.”
While Cadillac’s new drivers found success with title winning teams, they often had to play second fiddle to their teammates at times, and there’s a worry that they might not be as fast as they once were. Both drivers are in their thirties and are not currently racing, with Bottas being the reserve driver for Mercedes, and Perez out of F1 altogether, after being paid off by Redbull last year.
However, outright pace isn’t really what Cadillac are after. Right now they need as much experience and knowledge of F1 as possible, and when you look at the other drivers that are available right now, none of them have anywhere near the amount of race starts as Bottas and Perez.
Their time working with top F1 teams will prove crucial, and should make Team Principal Graeme Lowdon’s life a bit easier, as he faces the daunting task of starting a new F1 team from scratch.
What This Means for the Driver Market
Six driver remain without a contract for next season:
- George Russel (Mercedes)
- Kimi Antionelli (Mercedes)
- Yuki Tsunoda (Redbull)
- Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
We can assume both Mercedes drivers will have their contracts renewed for next year, as they’ve both been performing at a reasonable level and the German team is no stranger to leaving things late when it comes to renewing contracts.
Things are slightly more complicated for the Redbull trio of Hadjar, Lawson and Tsunoda. One of them will likely be chosen to race alongside Max Verstappen at the main team next year. It’s also likely that one of them will be dropped at the end of this season to make way for F2 racer Arvid Lindblad, which might end up being Yuki Tsunoda as he is a Honda-backed driver, and Redbulls partnership with them ends after this season.
Finally there’s Franco Colapinto. The Argentinian driver has failed to convince Alpine that he’s worthy of a seat next year, despite a few flashed of pace here and there. Thankfully for him, he may have just been thrown a lifeline, as Alpine were reportedly considering replacing him with Valtteri Bottas before Cadillac swooped him up for next year. That might just convince Alpine to stick with him for another season, although there’s no guarantee
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