Bottas and Perez given Cadillac hot seats

Cadillac played it safe with its first Formula One lineup, bypassing an American driver for series veterans Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.

Neither driver has seats on the grid this season, but with a combined 16 wins and 527 starts between them, Bottas and Perez were the pragmatic choices to help build the Cadillac program, which is set to launch in 2026. The hires, announced Tuesday, bring years of F1 knowledge to Cadillac, a division of United States automotive giant General Motors that will become the 11th team on the grid in 2026.

"We believe their experience, their leadership and their technical acumen are really what we need," said Dan Towriss, CEO of the Cadillac F1 team and TWG Motorsports. "It's the right combination, the right drivers at the right time, and we're humbled by their belief in us and in this project."

Bottas and Perez have been considered the front-runners for months, as drivers lobbied for two new seats on what will be a 22-car grid next year.

'The right combination'

Although the project, started by Michael Andretti in 2021, was designed to be a true US team with an American driver, Andretti had to exit the effort in order to help Cadillac and TWG gain approval from Formula One management.

Towriss bought Andretti out, the team is now owned by TWG Global, and Towriss and GM president Mark Reuss said in May at the Miami Grand Prix that hiring an American driver was no longer a top priority.

IndyCar driver Colton Herta from California was earmarked for a seat by Andretti, but he's yet to earn the super license required to compete in F1, and Cadillac is content to wait for an American. Towriss also laughed at recent reports that he planned to move Herta to Formula 2 next year for Herta to gain the needed points for his license.

Even if Herta did have a super license, he doesn't have the F1 experience Cadillac wants for its launch.

"What it comes back to is that experience in Formula One carried the day," Towriss said. "Everybody's new, everybody's working together for the first time. We think that the experience that these two bring are really what's most important.

"We certainly do think about — and it's important to us to make sure there is a pathway for — an American driver in Formula One, and we'll be working on that.

"For this inaugural season, for what the team needs, and what these drivers bring, this was the right combination for the team."

Realistic expectations

Towriss and his new drivers say wins will take time. Like all motor sports series, the technical work and engineering needed for success takes years to master, and the challenges in F1 are perhaps the most difficult in sports. The series is also debuting a new car and a new engine next season — Cadillac will lease engines from Ferrari — meaning all teams will be adapting to a host of new specs.

Perez said Cadillac will "start in a very difficult position", but the key will be "how quickly we've managed to progress".

"It's a project," Perez said. "It's not about going out to win races and score points."

Haas, the only other American team on the grid, has been racing in F1 since 2016 and is now in its 10th season. Not only has it registered no wins, but also no podium finishes. The Cadillac team expects to bring more money and support to its effort, but no one will be surprised if podiums will take a while.

"We don't need to prove anything to anyone. We've got to put the team first," Bottas said. "That's what we're here for, and probably why we were chosen."

Commercial benefits

The driver search was spearheaded by team principal Graeme Lowdon, who had at least a dozen viable options, but told reporters last month that he had narrowed the list to "three or four" real contenders.

Perez of Mexico is 35 and Bottas of Finland turns 36 later this week. They have each finished runner-up in the championship before.

Bottas was second in the standings to his then-Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in 2019 and 2020, while Perez, F1's most successful Mexican driver, was second when his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen dominated 2023.

Red Bull dropped Perez at the end of last year. Bottas is a Mercedes reserve driver this year after scoring no points in 2024 at Sauber.

Both could also make a big contribution to car development, as the F1 regulations change for 2026.

In commercial terms, Perez has brought major sponsorship from Mexico to his previous teams, while Bottas' humor and social media presence make him a fan favorite.

Reuss said Perez helps the team connect with one of the automaker's most critical markets.

"The market in Mexico is a big deal for General Motors, and frankly, North America," Reuss said. "We sell a lot of cars in Mexico, and the fan base there is absolutely enthusiastic. Those are side benefits."

Towriss said both drivers give the team tremendous commercial appeal.

"Checo and Valtteri have very strong followings, from a commercial standpoint, from a sponsorship standpoint, from their impact from being on the Formula One circuit for many, many years," said Towriss, before noting that experience was still the primary factor.

"We talked to a lot of drivers," he said.

"When you really sit down and get into the experience, and being able to create this chemistry in a team, the conversations are different, and they really stand out from the others."

Agencies via Xinhua