Sergio Perez has "confidence" that Cadillac will "surprise" the rest of the grid as they prepare for the debut in Formula 1, setting an ambitious goal.

The 35-year-old will make a return to the pinnacle of motorsport for the American team after leaving Red Bull at the end of the 2024 season.

The Mexican will race alongside Valtteri Bottas as General Motors and Cadillac join the grid as the 11th team for the 2026 season, with the American manufacturer planning to create their own power units from 2029 onwards.

Preparations continue to build ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, marking the start of the 2026 season, and there is plenty of optimism surrounding the brand-new team, leading to a bold prediction from Perez himself.

Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez will be Cadillac's driver lineup for their debut season in F1 - Photo: Cadillac

"Well, the truth is that I am very happy because I have a great reference in Valtteri. In Formula 1, your teammate is a great reference for the work you are doing," Perez started by saying at the EXMA 2025 Xtraordinary Humans México event.

"As a team, obviously, it will take time, but it brings people with a lot of experience.

"It will take time for everything to get bigger, but I have confidence that Cadillac will surprise and that soon we will be fighting for very good places. That is the goal of the team.

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Perez already impressing after test

With the 2026 season getting underway in March, Perez made a return behind the wheel in November in preparation for next season, driving an all-black Ferrari SF-23 in a private Imola test.

The Mexican reportedly completed 184 laps across two days, and some impressive pace was shown in his return, which even shocked Perez himself.

"The truth is that I was surprised," continued the former Red Bull man. "I was working a lot on the physical part to get to 100%. I had two days of tests, and I was very competitive. I felt very good physically.

"It helped me a lot with my confidence, because I drove a much more normal car than I had in the last few months with Red Bull. I was very competitive, I was very good physically, so it gave me a lot of confidence for the start of the season.

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