Sergio Perez

How Sergio Perez convinced Cadillac to sign him despite disappointing Red Bull stint

16:10, 26 Aug

Updated: 16:41, 26 Aug

bySamson Ero

Sergio Perez is set to return to the F1 grid after leaving Red Bull in 2024. The 35-year-old finished well adrift of teammate Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings and ended the season with a dismissal from the Red Bull Racing outfit.

However, the six-time Grand Prix winner is set to make a return to F1, this time with the Cadillac outfit. Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss has explained how the veteran driver convinced the team to sign him for the upcoming season.

“I think, again, in our meetings with him, he outperformed, I guess. If you would say we had questions, we had scepticism around some of these things, and he answered all of our questions, passed our tests with flying colours. And so we were pleased to put him forward,” Towriss said via Racer.

“We spent a lot of time looking at past experience and kind of what the state of the world was at Sauber, and really how Valtteri performed with the car that's there and kind of qualifying performance versus race performance,” Towriss added.

Sergio Perez will partner with Valtteri Bottas at Cadillac

Cadillac F1 CEO analyses Perez's situation at Red Bull

The motorsports chief also touched on Sergio Perez’s situation at the Red Bull Racing outfit. The Cadillac CEO detailed how it appeared to be a complicated scenario for the Mexican, given how the team was focused on the prowess of Max Verstappen.

“And then in particular, probably the more complicated scenario was Red Bull, right? That's been an interesting kind of saga to watch, a team that's really built around one driver, but has two. And clearly none of the other drivers have fared well in that second seat from that standpoint.”

Towriss also revealed that the Cadillac team held conversations with several individuals at the Red Bull team before signing the driver:

“So we did take a lot of time to talk to people at Red Bull and get information and feedback. The process was lengthy and thorough from that standpoint. And again, I think what that means is having looked through all that, we feel very good about Checo, his desire to be in Formula 1, to make a statement, to show the performance that he has, and kind of put that last season or so from Red Bull in the rearview mirror.”