Ex-Red Bull Engineer Reveals Qualities in Sergio Perez That Make Him Ideal Candidate for Cadillac Seat

Sergio Perez has not yet made up his mind if he is keen to return to F1 after Red Bull dropped him ahead of the 2025 season. With Perez scoring less than half the points his four-time world champion teammate Max Verstappen scored last year, Red Bull had no choice but to sack the Mexican, despite a year remaining on his contract.

Amid the speculations of his exit, the 35-year-old had expressed his desire of wanting to continue in F1 and fulfill his contract with Red Bull. So, while a return to Milton Keynes will certainly not be on the cards for him, Cadillac — which will join the sport as the 11th team in 2026 — are reportedly interested in signing him.

The question is whether Perez is keen on returning to the sport. In an interview with Formula 1’s official website last month, he said, “I gave myself six months before deciding how to proceed. I want to check my options first before I determine what my next step in my career will look like”.

As the speculations continue about who Cadillac will sign as their two drivers for next year, former Red Bull engineer Jonathan Wheatley has explained why he believes Perez will be an ideal candidate for the team. He gave a few key reasons: Perez’s mentality and his ability to work well with others and give good feedback.

“I was always impressed by how he [Perez] bounced back stronger after each setback,” the current Sauber team principal said. “He’s incredibly good at rebuilding, and I also think he’s very good with the team, who responded well to him. I always had the impression that his explanations to the engineers about how the car behaved were very clear”.

Asked by https://t.co/iVtihZP0ue, Jonathan Wheatley says that he is confident that Sergio Perez would be a good fit [with Cadillac]: “I think he’s quite capable of settling into a new team quickly.”

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— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) April 29, 2025

Since Cadillac is starting their F1 operation from scratch, they will most likely look for an experienced driver. And who better to look at than Perez? Having driven at the pinnacle of motorsport for 14 long years, the six-time Grand Prix winner has a plethora of experience working with different teams across the grid.

And Wheatley is not the only person who is confident that Perez can succeed at Cadillac. Jonathan Noble explained on The Race’s podcast how Perez can not just deliver on track, but he will also help the American outfit commercially.

“If you are after an experienced second driver who perhaps with a bit of commercial impact, good impact in the Americas, Perez makes sense,” Noble said. Perez’s commercial value is well-known, as several reports claimed that the only reason Red Bull decided to stick with him for so long was the number of sponsors he was able to gather.

Cadillac should sign Sergio Perez rather than ‘old rookies’ with the team keen on putting Colton Herta in the car… #F1 pic.twitter.com/jHY4NyX8Ur

— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) February 5, 2025

Last year, reports suggested that Perez’s $40 million sponsors were the reason that had saved his Red Bull seat for so long.

While Cadillac has General Motors’ support, they would fancy this additional commercial backing from a seasoned campaigner like the Guadalajara-born driver besides his marketing appeal in America and Mexico, as they would welcome all the resources available to bolster their F1 ambitions on and off the track.