Sergio Perez sets up first Cadillac F1 running ahead of 2026 launch
Sergio Perez won’t wait for 2026 to feel the g‑forces again. The Mexican confirmed he’ll jump back into an F1 cockpit “in the near future” as part of his first testing programme with Cadillac F1, with trips lined up to the United States and England for simulator work and mileage in an older car.
“Next week, I will be in Charlotte and in England,” Perez said during an appearance at a Los Angeles Dodgers game. “For me, it’s important to drive this year, especially for the neck, so that my body adapts again to what’s going to happen in 2026. I will train in the simulator, and there are plans for me to test an old F1 car.”
The dates are still being nailed down, along with exactly what he’ll drive. Under Testing of Previous Cars regulations, Cadillac can source an older F1 machine with FIA approval, or even use a lower‑formula car if that’s what’s available. The aim isn’t lap time—it’s reps.
Team boss Graeme Lowdon underscored that point this week, explaining the first running is about process, not performance. “We don’t have a previous car. The car isn’t actually important,” he said on the Beyond The Grid podcast. “We’re not looking to do this test to engineer something. We want the mechanics to get used to regain that muscle memory of working with a live car; it doesn’t have to be a Formula 1 car. It’s good if it is.”
Cadillac’s driver lineup—Perez alongside Valtteri Bottas—was announced earlier this year, a deliberate tilt toward experience as the new American entrant builds toward its 2026 debut. Both drivers were left without 2025 seats after their respective Red Bull and Sauber stints ended, but the aggregate knowledge between them is precisely what a start‑up operation needs when the lights finally go out.
The harder part is everything that happens before then. With no previous car and no legacy systems to lean on, Cadillac’s programme is working from a clean sheet, which makes every on‑track day valuable—no matter what’s under the bodywork. For Perez, it’s as much a physical reset as a technical one.
“I always thought I hated training,” he admitted. “But this time that I had off made me realize that I really enjoyed it. I’ve been staying fit—obviously haven’t driven anything for a while, other than karting with my son. There are plans with the team to test a Formula 1 car before the end of the year, and obviously next year, with the testing that we’re going to have, is going to make that dust go away extremely quickly. I know what Formula 1 is about, and I will be ready to deliver from the first race onwards.”
Perez stepped away from the grid after 2024 and has been open about why the break mattered. “It only became clear towards the end of the year that I was not going to continue with Red Bull,” he said. “Instead of jumping into something just for staying on the grid, I needed that time to disconnect a bit and understand what I really want next in my career. The more I talked to the Cadillac team, the more it became apparent that this is what excites me to go back. It’s the project itself—it’s not just going back to the grid with a regular team to fight for podiums and points.”
There’s also a practical reason for the early laps. F1 drivers talk about “neck” in the same way cyclists talk about “legs”—it’s the first system that tells on you when you haven’t been in the car. The only cure is driving, and Perez wants that box ticked well before the new era car arrives.
As for the location mix, the split between Charlotte and England hints at the twin‑track build‑up most new teams adopt—stateside base work alongside UK‑centric race ops—and those simulator sessions will be the first place Perez and Bottas feed back to a fresh engineering group finding its rhythm.
Perez capped his LA visit by throwing the ceremonial first pitch at Dodger Stadium as part of Mexican Heritage Month. The baseball was a one‑off. The test laps won’t be.
