{"id":270931,"date":"2025-07-18T02:48:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T02:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/270931\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T02:48:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T02:48:11","slug":"cadillac-have-been-chasing-very-popular-driver-from-the-word-go-and-hes-their-number-one-guy-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/270931\/","title":{"rendered":"Cadillac have been chasing ‘very popular’ driver from the word go and he’s their ‘number one guy’ for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cadillac are set to announce one of their two drivers for the 2026 Formula 1 season before the summer break.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The American brand have been talking to multiple candidates over the last few months as they narrow down the options for their driver line-up in 2026. The feeling is they want to bring in experienced drivers, but they are also looking at young talents.<\/p>\n

Felipe Drugovich<\/a> and Frederik Vesti<\/a> are looking to get their shot in F1 with the team, while Mick Schumacher<\/a> has been in talks over a possible return to the sport. F1 fans would be \u2018extremely disappointed\u2019 if Cadillac signed Schumacher<\/a>, given his poor record at Haas in 2021 and 2022.<\/p>\n

Mick Doohan is trying to get his son Jack a seat with Cadillac<\/a> after he was dropped by Alpine six races into 2025. The Aussie does not look likely to return to the Enstone outfit; F1\u2019s 11th team may be his last chance to save his career.<\/p>\n

Valtteri Bottas has agreed to join Cadillac<\/a>, but nothing has been signed yet. The Finn has been heavily linked with the team since his exit from Sauber, but the team have had their \u2018number one guy\u2019 in mind long before he entered the picture.<\/p>\n

\"ThePhoto by GIORGIO VIERA\/AFP via Getty ImagesSergio Perez is Cadillac\u2019s \u2018number one guy\u2019 for 2026 as they\u2019ve been chasing him since he became available<\/p>\n

Sergio Perez<\/a> has been heavily linked with Cadillac<\/a> since he lost his seat at Red Bull at the end of 2024. Journalist Nate Saunders notes that the team have been in contact with the Mexican from the moment he became available on the F1 driver market.<\/p>\n

Speaking via ESPN\u2019s Unlapped podcast, Saunders says Cadillac have made it clear that Perez is the number one option for 2026 and is certain that the 35-year-old will sign with the team.<\/p>\n

Discussing Bottas and Perez\u2019s links to Cadillac, he said: \u201cFirst of all, it\u2019s a pretty strong line-up for a new team. I\u2019m convinced one of those drivers will be in one of those seats. I think that the key question is, do we get both of them? We\u2019ve already alluded to the fact that Bottas might have the option of Alpine.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cCadillac have made it clear pretty much from the moment they knew Perez was available that he was kind of the number one guy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got colleagues out in Mexico who say the deal was pretty much, the conversations started the moment Perez was basically able to talk to anyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich makes a lot of sense as well, you know it\u2019s a North American car brand that is interested in a very, very popular driver from Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would pretty confidently say Perez will be there, and then I think the Bottas thing is just based on, does he have a better opportunity elsewhere?\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0<\/strong>Sergio Perez\u2019s life outside F1 from net worth to nickname<\/a><\/p>\n

\"SergioPhoto by Song Haiyuan\/MB Media\/Getty ImagesWhere does Sergio Perez currently stand with getting a Cadillac contract?<\/p>\n

Perez has narrowed down his options to two teams for 2026<\/a> \u2013 Alpine and Cadillac. Mercedes had been linked with Perez<\/a>, but it does not seem like the Silver Arrows are a realistic option.<\/p>\n

Alpine have held talks with Perez, as Flavio Briatore prefers an experienced driver to join his ranks. Bottas has also been linked with the Enstone outfit, but his ties to the team seem more concrete.<\/p>\n

Cadillac would offer more security to Perez, especially given his experience and commercial value. However, Perez\u2019s lack of involvement in 2025 could hamper him<\/a>, seeing as he has not competed in any racing series or taken up a reserve role like Bottas.<\/p>\n

But Pato O\u2019Ward thinks Perez is returning to F1 in 2026<\/a> after what he\u2019s seen his fellow Mexican do behind the scenes. The McLaren IndyCar driver says the 35-year-old is training for a comeback, but only time will tell if he gets another chance.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cadillac are set to announce one of their two drivers for the 2026 Formula 1 season before the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[102766,5621,4199,707,4200,706,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-270931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-2026-f1-regulations","9":"tag-cadillac","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sergio-perez","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114871960201684318","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}