Sergio Pérez is one of three drivers under serious consideration for a Cadillac seat in 2026, but the General Motors brand isn’t giving up on its dream on bringing an American back into the sport.
Cadillac will make its debut as the 11th team on the Formula 1 grid next season, making it a key part of the driver market puzzle at a time most seats are locked down until the end of 2026.
Mario Andretti, the 1978 world champion now serving as a director the nascent GM-backed squad, told the Fox Sports Pit Talk podcast that the experienced Pérez would be an obvious pick, though he wouldn’t be drawn on whether the Mexican was close to a deal.
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“All I can tell you is that he’s certainly one of the drivers that’s being considered,” Andretti said. “He has to be.
“I cannot divulge as to where we are with any commitment whatsoever — I think we want to keep that luxury to ourselves until we feel that we have scanned the entire spectrum of availability. I think that’s a prudent thing to do.
“The choice is somewhat limited — let’s face it, a lot of the great talents are already under contract. Fortunately still there are a few out there — three or four; I’ll say maybe three — that certainly deserve consideration, and all of this is being looked upon very seriously.
“There are some conversations going on somewhere and in some other places. That’s as much as I can tell you to be fair to everyone.”
PIT TALK PODCAST: 1978 Formula 1 world champion and Cadillac director Mario Andretti has latest on the American team’s preparation for 2026, its hand in the driver market and where the next American driver will come from. Plus the turmoil at Alpine after losing its team principal and dropping Aussie young gun Jack Doohan.
The three experienced drivers under consideration are widely thought to comprise six-time winner Pérez, 10-time winner Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, who started 68 grands prix with the backmarker Sauber team before being dropped at the end of last season.
Bottas and Zhou are reserve drivers for Mercedes and Ferrari respectively. Ferrari will supply Cadillac with power units until 2029, when General Motors will manufacturer its own engine.
Mick Schumacher, the former Haas driver, has also been connected to the seat, with four-time champion Sebastian Vettel having recently backed his compatriot for the drive.
Andretti said that the response from drivers sounded out by his team had been heartening.
“What’s encouraging is that there is really some good reaction to individuals that want to join,” he said. “I think that’s a good thing for us.”
But none of the four drivers would satisfy the team’s desire to field an American in its bid to pitch itself as Formula 1’s definitive American team.
In its original form as Andretti Global, spearheaded by Mario’s son Michael, the team was explicit in its desire to contract a young star from the US alongside an experienced partner.
That part of the mission statement has been less prominent since the team rebranded as Cadillac, but Andretti — whose 1979 Dutch Grand Prix victory is the most recent for an American driver —said it remains an important goal.
“Since we haven’t had a lot of participation as of late in Formula 1, I think to have a vehicle, to have a team to really truly consider American, I think that the idea of trying to look at bringing some talent from here is for real.
“[F1] is definitely riding a wave of popularity [in the US] — it’s unprecedented — but you still have to feed that.
“I think there’s a lot of national pride. The fact that we have three races here — why not have the opportunity to cultivate and have some of the US fans root for American drivers at one point?
“All of this is looking forward to the future. These are the things to work toward, because it’s all positive, and if you have a bubble, like we do here, you have to keep feeding that bubble. You don’t want to let it burst.”
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But he conceded that the team couldn’t afford to induct an American at any cost.
“Especially when you’re starting out, you have to try to consider the team itself — to go on merit,” he said. “If we feel that right at the moment we might wait a season or so before we bring in an American, so be it.
“As I said, the optimum idea would be if we could definitely say, ‘Yes, we have the American already’. At one point maybe we might have thought so, but we want to keep that option open.
“I think it’s really important to try to arm the team in the best way possible, especially going in.”