David Coulthard questions Sergio Perez return as Cadillac begin F1 2026 era

While David Coulthard believes that Cadillac made a “smart choice” with its F1 2026 drivers, he does have his concerns about Sergio Perez.

After a season out of Formula 1 following his Red Bull departure, Perez returns for F1 2026 with Cadillac. But, Coulthard is questioning whether Perez can “switch it back on” mentally after his time away from the sport.

David Coulthard questions Sergio Perez readiness for Cadillac return

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Cadillac went with experience for its very first F1 driver line-up. 10-time grand prix winner Valtteri Bottas arrived after spending 2025 as Mercedes’ reserve. He will be partnered by Sergio Perez, six times a grand prix winner.

Both drivers will make their first race start since Abu Dhabi 2024 at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

While Bottas remained involved with Formula 1 through 2025 via Mercedes, Perez spent that time out of the sport after losing his Red Bull seat.

It is Perez who Coulthard, a fellow former Red Bull driver, has some concerns about.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the two drivers they’ve got. It’s not the fastest driver pairing in Formula 1, as established by their career so far, but safe pair of hands,” Coulthard said of Cadillac’s Bottas and Perez pairing, while speaking on the Up To Speed podcast.

“They don’t need to be breaking cars with rookies. They need to be just getting up to speed with operation of the team and the new regulations and things like that. So I actually think they’ve made a smart choice.

“I think Bottas is better prepared because he’s coming with that Mercedes information. He’s been working with Mercedes all last year, simulator work and the likes.

“I’m a little bit concerned for Perez, who’s really enjoyed the siesta of a year off. I don’t doubt his commitment, but can you switch it back on when you’ve switched it off?”

Coulthard was asked by podcast co-star Naomi Schiff how hard he believes Bottas and Perez will be battling each other to be “top dog” at Cadillac.

It was put to Coulthard that both of these drivers experienced what it was like to be in the shadow of a teammate, Bottas at Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton, and Perez as Max Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate.

“100 per cent,” Coulthard replied. “They’re old enough to be professional out of the car. They know they’ve got to work for the greater good of the team. But make no bones about it, their individual teams, managers, physios, and everybody that works around them, your teammate’s success is your failure.”

Coulthard gives the nod to Bottas in this upcoming intra-team battle.

He continued: “You’ve got to beat your teammate. And if we were laying it out now, I think Bottas has a better chance of beating Perez, just by the fact he’s more recent.”

As Cadillac prepares to commence its Formula 1 journey, Coulthard made a comparison with his time at Red Bull.

Coulthard was Red Bull’s first F1 driver, racing for the team between 2005-08. He believes that Bottas and Perez will be in a similar mental space of helping build the Cadillac foundations for future success.

Red Bull became title contenders from 2009, the year after Coulthard retired from Formula 1. The following year, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull won a first of four consecutive Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship doubles.

“I see it like this. When I stepped away from McLaren after nine seasons, I just didn’t feel done with Formula 1,” said Coulthard, “and although I knew the Red Bull scenario was unlikely to bring me any more victories, it meant I could put my energy and anger and frustration and all the things that I carried in my career into helping build a team.

“That’s exactly where I think Bottas and Perez’s minds will be.

“I don’t think for one moment they truly believe they’re going to win a grand prix with Cadillac in the time they have left, unless you have one of these freak races where three cars finish a race in wet conditions or something like that.

“So, in many ways, it’s fulfilling what they were born to do. It’ll be a nice payday for them, and they’ll lay the foundations of, let’s be honest, it would be nice to see Cadillac in the future being a successful Formula 1 team.”

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Sergio Perez has a point to prove with Cadillac

It would be unwise to count Sergio Perez out to soon. This is a driver who returns to Formula 1 with major unfinished business.

The struggles of Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda in the Red Bull seat after him went a long way to redeeming Perez, after his bruising final year with the team.

Now, Perez has the opportunity to demonstrate that he was not the undisputed culprit, that he still has something to give.

Perez will want to go out on his terms, and that can be done by writing a successful final career chapter with Cadillac, setting the team up for F1 success down the line.

He has only just turned 36. Bottas is the same age. We have Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton still competing in their 40s, so who is to say that Perez and Bottas will not be around to reap the future rewards for their hard work.

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