How Sergio Perez’s Cadillac test times in old Ferrari F1 car compare to Charles Leclerc

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Sergio Perez drove an unmarked Ferrari F1 car at Imola on Thursday as he prepares for his 2026 F1 comeback with Cadillac. The test allowed the newcomers to hone their fledgling operation.

Ferrari will supply Cadillac’s engines next year and agreed to lend them an SF-23, as well as some team staff, for the Emilia Romagna outing. The Scuderia’s own test driver, Arthur Leclerc, was behind the wheel of the same car at Fiorano earlier this week.

Perez ranks in the all-time top 10 for race starts with 281, but hasn’t driven an F1 car since last season’s Abu Dhabi GP, his final race for Red Bull. Valtteri Bottas couldn’t take part in the test because he’s still contracted to Mercedes as a reserve driver.

Sergio Perez’s Cadillac pace looks strong through Charles Leclerc comparison

Perez completed 99 laps in the test, which was overseen by team principal Graeme Lowdon and team manager Peter Crolla. He didn’t make any notable mistakes, aside from one trip to the gravel at the Tamburello corner.

According to Motorsport Italy, the Mexican’s best lap time was a 1:18.82. Lowdon was keen to stress that Perez wasn’t ‘pushing’, with Cadillac more focused on training their mechanics.

Still, Perez’s pace holds up well when compared to Charles Leclerc in 2022. There was no Emilia Romagna GP the following year due to flooding.

If Perez wasn’t driving flat-out, then it makes most sense to look at Leclerc’s pace in practice. Driving Ferrari’s first ground-effect car, he set a 1:19.740 in FP2, the only dry practice session of the weekend.

When F1 returned to Imola two years later, Leclerc was much faster. In fact, he set the quickest time of FP1 with a 1:16.990.

Perez wasn’t familiar with the car at all, so Cadillac will be pleased that he could complete a thorough programme without interruption.

Will Cadillac have a better engine than Red Bull in 2026?

Cadillac are F1’s first new entrants since fellow Americans Haas in 2016. Haas commendably finished eighth out of 11 teams that year.

One big similarity between the two is that they are Ferrari customers. General Motors will build a bespoke engine for Cadillac eventually, but they will benefit from working with an established F1 manufacturer at first.

Indeed, Ted Kravitz says Cadillac could have a better engine than Red Bull, Perez’s former team, in 2026. Laurent Mekies’ squad are launching their own powertains division next year.

Cadillac will expect to be on the back row at the Australian GP, but repeating Haas’ performance over the full year isn’t out of the question, particularly with two successful veterans behind the wheel.