Perez confirms long-awaited F1 return with Ferrari test booked in

Sergio Perez’s time on track as a Cadillac Formula 1 driver will begin at the Imola circuit next month with a two-day TPC – in a Ferrari F1 car.

Dropped by Red Bull at the end of last season, Perez has already booked his return to the grid having signed to join the sport’s newest team, Cadillac, as its F1 adventure begins next year.

Sergio Perez’s F1 return: All you need to know

⦁ Sergio Perez confirms ‘very useful’ Ferrari test
⦁ Cadillac quells rival teams’ concerns over Ferrari test
⦁ Mercedes and Cadillac remain in ‘talks’ over Valtteri Bottas test

The team’s plans are progressing, with team principal Graeme Lowdon revealing last month that Cadillac is on schedule with its inaugural F1 car.

“The good news is it [the car] is coming along,” Lowdon told Formula 1. “It’s on schedule. We are currently laying up the first two race chassis.”

The car, though, is just one piece of the puzzle.

Having confirmed Perez as Valtteri Bottas’ teammate for the F1 2026 season, the Mexican driver is set to complete his first laps in a Formula 1 car since last year’s finale in Abu Dhabi next month at Imola.

The six-time grand prix winner confirmed his much-awaited first outing for Cadillac, however, it will take place in a Ferrari Formula 1 car given Cadillac doesn’t have old machinery available for a TPC [Testing Previous Car] outing. Ferrari will power Cadillac in its first season in Formula 1.

Speaking at a football match in Mexico, Perez said: “As much as I train, I need to have time, kilometres in the car, because in the end, they are very specific exercises and muscles that you train in the car.

“I’m going to have two days in Imola, which is going to help me a lot. But, we’re doing well [in preparation].

“They’ll be very useful because we’ll be able to work with the mechanics and engineers to have the whole team ready for the testing program that begins in January – very early in the year – where we’ll already be at 100 percent.”

Asked which Ferrari F1 car he would use, Perez replied: “I think 2023.”

Cadillac quells rivals’ fears over Ferrari test

Cadillac’s planned Ferrari outing raised a few eyebrows in the paddock, however, Lowdon insists rival teams have nothing to worry about.

“We’ve been looking at the testing a team can do under the TPC rules,” he told media in Singapore. “We don’t have a previous car, but also the title is a slightly misnomer, because we don’t actually need to test a car, so it doesn’t really matter.

“Actually, current team testing is kind of what we’re interested in. We want to use a car, because in all of the simulations that we mentioned, we try and make it as real to life as possible.

“I think everyone gets a little bit wrongly concerned, that in some way we can get an advantage by testing someone else’s car or something. But we’re not testing the car, we’re testing the people.

“Yes, we are looking to gain the advantage, but not from anything to do with the car. The advantages that we want is for our mechanics to have the same experience that all the mechanics in this pit lane are having every day working with each car.”

Could Valtteri Bottas join Sergio Perez on track?

Perez made no mention of his teammate Bottas and whether the Finn would join him for the two-day outing.

Unlike Perez, Bottas is not a free agent as he is contracted to Mercedes as the team’s official reserve driver. That means he would need permission from his team principal Toto Wolff to do anything with his new team.

The Austrian has so far been accommodating, with Bottas telling Crash.net that he’s been taking part in team meetings and will probably be allowed to do sim work with his 2026 team.

“Mercedes has been really supportive on the transition, so I don’t think they’re going to block me in any way,” said the Finn.

“There’s been already discussions between me and Cadillac with online meetings and stuff like that, which I’m allowed to do and that’s fine.

“Everyone understands that there’s a lot of work to do and there’s already some driver feedback that they need for certain things.

“Obviously, I’ll start with Cadillac in January, but there will be a few things I could do here and there before that.

“I think simulator stuff, I think that’s something actually Mercedes and Cadillac are going to speak [about]. But I have had a visit at the Silverstone facility already – just had a quick look. Stuff like that. So yeah, I’ll be doing some stuff.”

Whether that “stuff” will extend to join Perez at Imola next month remains to be seen.

Drivers are contracted to teams until December 31, although a few drivers have tested with their new teams during the post-season Abu Dhabi outings. Last year Carlos Sainz drove for Williams while still under contract with Ferrari and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg was in action with Sauber.

Lewis Hamilton, however, did not put in laps with Ferrari as he had other post-season Mercedes’ commitments to honour.

Had Bottas joined any other team, that outing would have been a good opportunity to test with his 2026 team, however, Cadillac, of course, doesn’t have a car that it can run.

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