Sergio Perez takes sly dig at Red Bull after his ‘surprising’ Ferrari private F1 test for Cadillac

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There will be three drivers on the Formula 1 grid in 2026 who didn’t appear at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, and one of them is Sergio Perez.

Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas will combine to create one of the most experienced line-ups in Formula 1 history when they team up for Cadillac’s debut campaign in the paddock.

The third different driver making his way onto the grid in 2026 is Arvid Lindblad, and his Racing Bulls promotion can be traced all the way back to Red Bull dropping Perez at the end of last year.

Valtteri Bottas will score more points than Sergio Perez for Cadillac in 2026 – Change our minds

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Bottas’ involvement in the Cadillac project has been limited up to this point due to his commitments as Mercedes’ reserve driver.

But Perez has none of the same commitments, and earlier in the year, took part in Cadillac’s first private test at Imola.

There, the Mexican driver drove a Ferrari as part of a TPC test, and his verdict on the 2023-spec car compared to his final season with Red Bull speaks volumes about just how difficult the RB20 was to drive.

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

Sergio Perez admits he was ‘really surprised’ by Ferrari F1 car during private Cadillac test

Perez was speaking at the EXMA CDMX 2025 event and asked how he felt after driving the Ferrari for the first time.

He said: “Yes, I was really surprised. I hadn’t been working out much to get to 100%.

“I had two days of testing. I got into the rhythm very quickly, I was very competitive, I felt very good physically, and it helped my confidence a lot, right?

“I drove a car that was much more normal than what I had in recent months with Red Bull.

“So, automatically, I was very competitive, I was in very good physical shape, so it gave me a lot of confidence for the start of the season in January, right?”

Perez’s time compared to Charles Leclerc in the same Ferrari looked good, but it’s very difficult to read too much into any private running compared to a race weekend.

The 2023 Ferrari was also a far easier car to drive than this year’s machine, which gave Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton so much trouble throughout the campaign.

READ MORE: All to know about General Motors’ Cadillac F1 team from engine to drivers

Sergio Perez sets Cadillac expectations for 2026 alongside Valtteri Bottas

Perez was also asked about his upcoming partnership with Bottas and what Cadillac are aiming for next year, and he continued: “Well, honestly, I’m very, very happy because, first of all, I have a great reference point, Valtteri, right?

“So, in the end, in Formula 1, your teammate is a great reference point for the work you are doing. You need a driver who is strong and tough. Of course. He’s also raced for a team that has won everything in Formula 1.

“And as a team, it’s a team that is being put together, obviously, it will take time, but it’s bringing in people with a lot of experience.

“In the end, all the people who are coming in speak the same language, but it will take time, won’t it, for everything to fall into place, for everything to start working forward.

“But I’m confident that Cadillac is going to surprise us and that we’ll soon be fighting for very good positions. That’s the team’s goal.”

Perez and Bottas both had questions about Cadillac before joining the team, and outside of the manufacturer, expectations will be low heading into their first season on the grid.

It’s yet to be seen whether joining at the beginning of a new rules cycle will help them, although any emerging outfit would have looked a long way off the pace in 2025, given how close the field was.

In Perez and Bottas, Cadillac have to lean into their experience to avoid falling too far behind their rivals.