Perez pegged as the right man for Cadillac's F1 title bid

12:37, 25 Aug

Updated: 14:18, 25 Aug

byNorberto Mujica

Sergio Perez has been at the heart of the Cadillac driver line up talks, and ahead of what looks to be an F1 comeback following a year-long hiatus, he's received sterling recommendation remarks from one of his former F1 bosses.

Perez' career saw him make his debut at Sauber, then move up to McLaren. After being dropped by the then Ron Dennis-led team, the Mexican was picked up by Force India, where he would eventually make acquaintances with Otmar Szafnauer.

The former Force India, Aston Martin and Alpine boss, spoke very highly of his ex-driver, and believes he's 'definitely got something to offer'.

"If he finds the right environment, with all of his experience at both smaller teams with less budget and Red Bull, he’s got good feedback, so he definitely has something to offer,” Szafnauer said to PlanetF1.

Especially for Cadillac, the Romanian believes: “Especially perhaps, a new team coming in that needs an experienced driver for the first couple of years, Checo [Perez] would be a good addition.”

Szafnauer surprised by Perez' stint at Red Bull

It looked like Perez' career was over when in 2020, the year before Racing Point was rebranded as Aston Martin, the Mexican driver was dropped.

Red Bull then came a-knocking and offered the driver a lifeline following his first career win at Sakhir that year.

Despite enjoying some individual success, from 2021 to 2024, his last two years at the Austrian time drew a lot of criticism his way due to what we're seen at the time as lackluster performances.

This was highlighted by the impressive run teammate Max Verstappen enjoyed at the same time in contrast. At the end of 2024 Perez was sidelined by Red Bull.

It comes as a 'bit of a surprise to Szafnauer that Perez could/did not make it work given his mentality and resolve.

“When I worked with Checo, I remember him saying to me: ‘I’m going to beat [Nico] Hulkenberg', (Perez' Force India teammate at the time, ed.).

“I thought 'that’d be great if you could actually achieve that'", said the Romanian labelling Hulkenberg's quality as great.

“It took Sergio two years, but he ended up beating Hulkenberg.”

Perez, according to Szafnauer was able to do that through his own work ethic and 'mental tenacity', two traits the former F1 team boss is surprised didn't help his stint at Red Bull

“So I knew he was capable of that. I was a bit surprised that he didn’t have that type of finish at Red Bull.”