Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez ae widely anticipated to be Cadillac’s driver pairing for the 2026 season. After almost a year of deliberation, the US outfit are closer to reaching an announcement for next year.
As outlined on multiple occasions across various outlets, including LWOS, Bottas and Perez have been favourites to join Cadillac for several months.
Crucially, though, there were still obstacles preventing a final agreement being reached.
With the summer break coming to a close, these question marks appear to have been addressed.
Cadillac are expected to sign two veteran drivers for next year as the foundation of their F1 project.
Cadillac prioritise experience for F1 debut
In the early months of negotiations, Cadillac were linked with many drivers that offered different assets.
Bottas and Perez have always been the biggest names available in the market, both in terms of experience and career accolades.
Because of this, especially in the case of Bottas, they were consistently favourites to secure a contract.
Of course, others were also being considered by Cadillac.
Guanyu Zhou, who is under Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon’s management, was also a serious contender.
The Chinese driver immediately pushed for a 2026 contract after losing his seat at Sauber.
Zhou, who is now a Ferrari reserve driver, is understood to have missed out on a full-time return to the grid.
Elsewhere, Aston Martin’s Felipe Drugovich is understood to have been in talks with Cadillac.
The Brazilian, like Zhou, gave Lowdon’s team a younger option to consider – should they opt against signing two experienced drivers.
These drivers, alongside others such as Schumacher and Alex Dunne, were options for Cadillac if they wanted to pursue a younger driver.
Ultimately, though, the consensus amongst various sources is that the American outfit are pursuing two experienced options.
This leaves Bottas and Perez as the most obvious candidates, with an agreement with both increasingly seen as a matter of time.
Should Cadillac reach pen to paper with these drivers, they would have secured a very solid pairing – especially in the context of a team making their F1 debut.
A long road ahead
The 2026 regulations offer a tremendous opportunity for teams, but this inevitably comes with high levels of risk.
With both the aerodynamic and engine rules experiencing radical overhauls, the chances of committing to the wrong concept or developing a poor engine are significant.
On the engine front, Cadillac won’t compete with their own power units for some time – 2028 at the earliest.
They will race with Ferrari power until then, which should give the US team a strong enough engine to be competitive.
For next year, therefore, the main focus will to develop a strong aerodynamic platform. Should they accomplish this, they have are set to sign drivers with more than enough experience of delivering results.
Perhaps more importantly, Bottas and Perez offer enough experience to help Cadillac’s progression in the sport.
This will be invaluable in 2026, when securing points will be seen as a success for the American F1 project.
Main photo: Richard Pardon (via Mercedes media gallery)
