Max Verstappen offers Sergio Perez crucial advice as Cadillac F1 comeback sealed

Sergio Perez will return to the grid for F1 2026 after striking a deal to race for Cadillac, in what will be their debut season.

It will be Perez’s first F1 involvement since he departed Red Bull at the end of 2024, following a harrowing final season alongside Max Verstappen. His former team-mate is glad to hear he will be back, and believes enjoying the Cadillac F1 ride will be critical.

Max Verstappen tells Sergio Perez to ‘enjoy’ Cadillac F1 experience

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Perez did have success at Red Bull, picking up five of his six grand prix wins with the team. However, he ultimately fell victim also to that second seat curse, leaving Red Bull after a collapse in form during the 2024 season.

But, Perez will get his shot at redemption after signing with incoming new entrant Cadillac. Perez will partner Valtteri Bottas in a very experienced first driver line-up for the American team.

Perez has admitted that he could not let his F1 career end on such a sour note, and if he is to make a success of his Cadillac F1 career, Verstappen believes having “a good time” will be key.

“I mean, it’s a fresh start now,” said Verstappen on Perez’s Cadillac F1 future.

“I think also from his side, just one half of, or a season doesn’t define what you can do, right? I mean, I think he is also quite easy in that. Some people maybe dwell on it a bit more.

“I think for Checo, it’s a new start. You’re excited: new cars, complete new cars, also.

“And he has shown a lot of great things even before he got to Red Bull, during the Red Bull time. So yeah, he just needs to go in there, enjoy it again, and have a good time.”

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While the likes of Formula 2 title contender Jak Crawford had been linked with a Cadillac F1 drive, the team has gone for known quantities in Perez and Bottas. Between them, they boast 16 grand prix wins, 10 for Bottas and six for Perez.

“He has driven for a lot of different teams, so he knows a lot of things about how teams work,” said Verstappen in regards to what Perez can offer Cadillac. “And every single team, of course, works a little bit in different ways.

“So that’s already, I think, a very interesting trait that sometimes, you know, is nice to understand what people are good at, or where some teams are worse at. That’s how it goes.

“Also, the behaviour of the cars. He has been in a lot of different regulations, a lot of different rulesets, where other things were allowed, some were not allowed, got banned.

“So yeah, to have that general understanding of how a great car is, a car that’s not fantastic, I think it’s very valuable for them to start, because he has worked with many big teams.

“Hopefully, that will push them forward in the beginning, because it’s never easy to jump into Formula 1 and be competitive, of course, straight away. But yeah, we’ll see how that goes.”

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