Cadillac is closing in on signing skilled pair Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez to type the motive force line-up for its debut Method 1 season in 2026, RACER understands.
The Basic Motors-supported workforce – a part of the TWG Motorsports portfolio – has been making ready to hitch the grid subsequent yr, after lastly receiving entry approval from the FIA and Method One Administration in March. Quite a few drivers have been linked with the race seats, however workforce principal Graeme Lowdon had usually voiced a choice for no less than one skilled title for the workforce’s inaugural season.
RACER understands that after discussions with a number of drivers, the Cadillac F1 workforce has opted to prioritize expertise in each race seats, with Bottas and Perez the supposed pairing, and contract progress at a complicated stage.
Each drivers misplaced their seats on the finish of final season – Bottas leaving Sauber and Perez dropped by Crimson Bull – however are set to carry a mixed 527 grand prix begins and 16 victories between them to the latest workforce on the grid.
Perez (left) and Bottas, pictured right here in 2021, would carry loads of F1 expertise with top-level groups. Steve Etherington/Getty Pictures
Bottas gained on 10 events for Mercedes, whereas Perez secured 5 wins for Crimson Bull and one for Racing Level, and so they mark the 2 most skilled drivers obtainable who’re presently not racing in F1. Cadillac had been analyzing a lot of drivers who had current expertise inside present groups in both race or growth roles, together with Mick Schumacher, Zhou Guanyu, Jack Doohan, Franco Colapinto, Felipe Drugovich, Jak Crawford and Fred Vesti.
Whereas Bottas has been serving as a reserve driver for Mercedes this season, Perez has taken a yr out after having his Crimson Bull contract terminated early. Replacements Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have each struggled alongside Max Verstappen since Perez left, with Crimson Bull persevering with a slide from competitiveness that began final yr.
An announcement regarding the Cadillac driver line-up might come as early as subsequent week, forward of the resumption of the 2025 season on the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort.
