Sergio Perez set to benefit from Valtteri Bottas ‘approach’ that’s completely different to Max Verstappen

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One of the biggest questions emerging from the announcement of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas’s return to the F1 grid is how Cadillac will manage the hierarchy of both their drivers.

Sergio Perez spent four seasons in the shadow of Max Verstappen at Red Bull, with his tenure at the team coming to an end following the conclusion of the 2024 season.

One of Perez’s biggest gripes with Red Bull during his time there was the difficulties he faced in getting to grips with the various iterations of F1 cars they produced, in contrast to Verstappen, who won all four drivers’ championships in the seasons that he partnered the Mexican driver.

Red Bull have since struggled in the current campaign which followed Perez’s departure. Perez Sr noted that Verstappen has had to change his driving style this year to account for the poor performance, hinting at the possibility that Red Bull’s downward trajectory is linked with their sacking of his son.

Valtteri Bottas had a very similar stint alongside Lewis Hamilton during his time at the then-dominant Mercedes team. He, too, struggled with replicating the results of his title-winning teammate and was often demoted to playing second fiddle to the seven-time world champion.

READ MORE: Cadillac driver Sergio Perez’s life outside F1 from net worth to nickname

Valtteri Bottas’s approach to racing isn’t ‘better or worse’ than Max Verstappen’s, just different

Speaking on his YouTube channel, F1 expert Albert Fabrega touched upon the differences that Perez will be aware of in his partnership with Bottas at Cadillac, as opposed to the immense pressure he was under whilst teaming with Verstappen at Red Bull.

“What he will find beside him is completely different from what he left at Red Bull, not just as a driver, but also technically and personally,” Fabrega said. “Bottas brings a very different approach compared to Max Verstappen, not better or worse, just different. It’s a new way of approaching both racing and life.”

The Spanish journalist also noted the similarities in position that both Perez and Bottas held at their respective title-winning teams.

“Bottas, like Perez, has also been a Formula 1 world runner-up; moreover, on two occasions,” he continued. “He is a man who has also raced many races, 246 F1 races, achieved 10 victories, 20 pole positions and 67 podiums. Most of them achieved with Mercedes-Benz alongside Lewis Hamilton.

“I say alongside Lewis Hamilton because, like Checo Pérez, he also knows what it is to deal with a world champion with so much strength, with so much weight, like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in the case of Checo.”

READ MORE: Cadillac driver Valtteri Bottas’ life outside F1 from girlfriend to wine and gin

Sergio Perez will also benefit from the differing team environment at Cadillac as opposed to Red Bull

As previously noted, the lower expectations to immediately succeed at Cadillac won’t be as intense as what Perez found at Red Bull. With Bottas and Perez leading their first season in F1, the American constructor will be looking for consistent top-ten finishes as their main goal for the season.

Continuing on from his first assessment of the differences Perez will face at Cadillac, Fabrega noted how the team dynamic will be split 50/50 between the two veteran drivers, rather than showing some favouritism to either driver when it comes to upgrades and strategies, akin to Red Bull.

“On top of that, the team environment will be entirely different. It won’t be a team focused solely on giving a winning car to one driver, where the second driver’s role is just to support the first,” Fabrega said.

“Instead, he will find a team that is open, with many new faces, but also experienced personnel. Not all the key members of Cadillac F1 are novices, far from it; many are highly capable.”

Recent comments from Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss have also closed off any opportunity for the team to develop the same culture Red Bull had during the Mexican’s tenure.

Towriss declared that Cadillac are not interested in signing Christian Horner to lead the team, putting his full support in current team principal Graeme Lowden.