Sabbatical Surprise: Sergio Perez and F1's Open Doors
Mar.31 - Sergio Perez has strongly hinted that he intends to return to Formula 1.
F1 legend Mario Andretti, an advisor to the all-new Cadillac team for 2026, revealed in the last few days that the ousted Red Bull driver is an "option".
For now, 35-year-old Perez - not only a highly experienced grand prix winner but strongly backed by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's companies - is enjoying his sabbatical.
"I have six months," he told Prodynamics. "I gave myself six months to see what options I have and decide what the next step in my career is.
"The doors are open in many places," Perez added. "Today I have the opportunity to decide what I want with my career. What comes next is important, so I want to give myself the time and space to make the best decision."
Despite his recent struggles alongside Max Verstappen, Perez's stock has suddenly risen given that his successor - Liam Lawson - was ousted after just two races, having been the slowest driver overall in Shanghai.
"I mean, for certain races last year, Sergio is now looking like a magician," former F1 driver Mark Webber, who is Chinese GP winner Oscar Piastri's manager, told Formula For Success.
Fox Sports claims negotiations between Cadillac and Perez are "already underway".
Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko revealed last Friday that, amid the team's deliberations about whether to axe Lawson, he was in contact with Perez - ostensibly to discuss "tequila".
As for Cadillac, Andretti also admitted that another Mexican - Indycar frontrunner Pato O'Ward - is an option, even though the team may need to "fight" to extricate him from his contract with McLaren.
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I'm fully positive Checo will become a Cadillac driver in the end thanks to Carlos Slim & the Mexican market, especially as he seemingly has the motivation to compete in F1 again, so zero doubts.
However, like with Bottas & Zhou, Cadillac is literally his only option for a full-time return & the ''doors are open to many places'' remark is only applicable to the motorsport world generally rather than F1 specifically.
I wouldn't entirely rule out Pato O'Ward either, & given that Bortoleto was easily released to join Audi, I doubt Pato's situation would be any different if Cadillac were to desire him.
Of course, an American driver is their priority alongside a driver with vast F1 racing experience, hence, their first lineup will most likely be an American driver paired with Perez.
Alternatively, if no currently active American driver reaches super license eligibility this year, Perez would get paired with either Bottas or Zhou, his only true competitors for a drive in the team.
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