Sergio Perez says the struggles experienced by second drivers at Red Bull show he has nothing to prove on his return to Formula 1 with Cadillac.
Cadillac announced that its first driver line-up will consist of Perez and Valtteri Bottas when it joins the grid in 2026, bringing together two drivers with a combined 16 victories and 527 race starts. While Bottas has been with Mercedes as a reserve driver this year, Perez returns after being dropped by Red Bull late last season, while the two drivers to follow him – Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda – have both also struggled.
“I don’t feel like there’s anything to prove, not just because of the current drivers or the next drivers that were in my seat, but even before that,” Perez said. “Now everyone forgets about it, but it’s been a very tricky place to be in, to constantly be adapting, to build confidence mentally.
“It’s a very unique challenge. And I don’t think I have anything to prove, when you see like the amount of points that they’ve scored, it’s like five points in the entire season. So I don’t think I’ve got anything to prove in that regard.
“To me, it’s more… coming back to enjoy the sport. I want to enjoy the sport, the sport that I love, the sport that has given me so much. I couldn’t afford to leave the way I left the sport, and this is why I’m coming back with this new project. I hope it’s a very successful one, but amongst that, more than anything, I want to enjoy this comeback.”
Perez has not been involved in Formula 1 this season and says the break was needed to help him discover what would enticed him to return, citing the unique challenge of Cadillac’s new entry as particularly motivating.
“For me, it was very important to have this time off of the sport, especially because it only became clear towards the end of the year that I was not going to continue with Red Bull. So instead of jumping into something just for staying on the grid, I needed that time. That time back to disconnect myself from the sport a bit and to understand what I really want next in my career.
“It wasn’t very clear for me in the beginning, especially the first couple of months, what I wanted to do next. And the more I was talking to the Cadillac team, the more it became apparent that this is what excites me to come back, it’s the project itself. It’s not just going back to the grid with a regular team to fight for podiums and races and points. This is a whole project. The dynamic, I feel, is different.
“And I realized that I enjoy training! I always thought I hated it. But this time that I had off, it made me realize that I really enjoy training. So I’ve been in the same fit [shape]. Obviously, I haven’t driven anything for a while other than karting with my son. But there is some plans with the team to test a Formula 1 car before the end of the year.
“And obviously next year with so much testing that we’re going to have, it’s going to make that dust go away extremely quickly. I know what Formula 1 is about, and I will be ready to deliver from the first race onwards.”
