Sergio Pérez spent a year away from Formula One after losing his Red Bull seat, but 2026 has brought a fresh chapter: leading Cadillac's historic debut season as the sport's newest constructor.
A Long Career Built on Tyre Management
Pérez made his Formula One debut in 2011 and built a reputation over more than a decade in the sport as one of the grid's most skilled managers of tire wear and race strategy, qualities that repeatedly delivered strong results in machinery that wasn't always the fastest on the grid, including spells with Sauber, McLaren, and Force India.
Race-Winning Form at Red Bull
Pérez's move to Red Bull in 2021 brought the most successful period of his career, pairing him with Max Verstappen through the team's most dominant seasons. He won six grands prix during his time at Red Bull and finished runner-up in the 2023 drivers' championship, his best-ever championship finish, while contributing significantly to the team's constructors' championship victories in 2022 and 2023.
A Difficult Decline
Despite that runner-up finish, Pérez's form declined noticeably through 2024, and he lost his Red Bull seat at the end of that season, ending a partnership that had lasted longer than any other Verstappen teammate in the team's history. He spent the entirety of the 2025 season away from a race seat.
A Fresh Start With Cadillac
Pérez's return to the grid in 2026 came through Cadillac, the American manufacturer's brand-new Formula One team, where he was signed alongside fellow veteran Valtteri Bottas specifically for his experience and leadership rather than for outright pace. Team leadership was explicit that a debut season benefits more from race-hardened feedback than from unproven potential.
Managing Expectations at a New Team
Racing for a brand-new constructor without the infrastructure of an established team represents a very different challenge to competing for wins at Red Bull, and Pérez has been candid about the scale of the task involved in helping build Cadillac's operation from the ground up. For a driver with six career wins and more than a decade of experience, 2026 is as much about mentorship and team-building as it is about chasing results on track.