Andretti breaks silence after Perez, Bottas strike agreements with Cadillac F1

Cadillac F1 adviser Mario Andretti has called for fans to only “believe what we communicate” as the team prepares to confirm its driver pairing for the F1 2026 season.

It comes as Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas both close in on a return to the F1 grid with the American team.

Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas set to join Cadillac F1 for F1 2026 season

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher and Mat Coch

As revealed by PlanetF1.com, Cadillac F1 is close to finalising its first-ever driver lineup with agreements in place with both Perez and Bottas for the F1 2026 season.

PlanetF1.com exclusively revealed on August 12 that Perez had agreed a deal to join Cadillac, with the Mexican driver set to return to F1 after vacating his Red Bull seat at the end of the 2024 season.

On Wednesday, PlanetF1.com reported that Bottas, the current Mercedes reserve driver, also has an agreement in place for F1 2026.

Although it is understood that neither driver had signed a contract at that point, it is expected that Bottas and Perez will form an experienced pairing for Cadillac F1’s debut season.

PlanetF1.com understands that an announcement is set to be made in short order.

Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas: Cadillac’s first-ever F1 driver pairing?

👉 F1 2026 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2026 grid?

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Andretti, the 1978 World Champion, was invited to join the Cadillac board of directors after his son Michael Andretti’s hopes of an F1 entry changed shape.

And the 85-year-old has called for fans to only believe what the team officially communicates as expectation grows of a Bottas/Perez partnership.

He told Swiss-German publication Blick: “Just believe what we communicate.”

If confirmed, Perez and Bottas will form one of the most experienced driver lineups on the F1 2026 grid with 527 starts between them.

Perez, who made his debut with Sauber in 2011, stands as the most successful Mexican driver in F1 history with six victories to his name.

The Guadalajara-born driver, whose most recent victory came for Red Bull at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, will turn 36 ahead of the F1 2026 season.

In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com, Perez’s former Force India boss Otmar Szafnaeur claimed that the veteran will prove a valuable asset to a new F1 team.

He said: “If he finds the right environment, with all of his experience at both smaller teams with less budget [than] Red Bull, he definitely has something to offer.”

“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.”

Bottas, meanwhile, claimed all 10 of his F1 wins in a five-year stint with Mercedes between 2017 and 2021, having made his debut with Williams in 2013.

The Finnish driver, who will turn 36 on Wednesday, was left without a seat for the F1 2025 season after Sauber opted to sign Gabriel Bortoleto as Nico Hulkenberg’s teammate ahead of the team’s Audi F1 rebrand.

PlanetF1.com reported last winter that Bottas was so confident of retaining his Sauber seat for F1 2025 that he physically signed a contract to remain with the team, only for it to opt for Bortoleto instead.

Cadillac F1 will compete with customer Ferrari engines and gearboxes for at least its first three seasons as work continues on the team’s in-house power unit, which is expected to race for the first time in 2029.

PlanetF1.com revealed earlier this week that parent company General Motors is actively recruiting staff to work on its in-house Cadillac F1 engine.

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