As Cadillac look at driver options for their first season on the Formula 1 grid, Guenther Steiner has urged them to sign Sergio Perez rather than “old rookies”.

Cadillac will enter Formula 1 next season after the General Motors-backed team won their drawn fight to become the 11th team on the grid.

Sergio Perez ‘could have value’ for Cadillac in F1 2026

The team’s preparations are in full swing with the team said to have signed Haas veteran Peter Crolla as their new team manager. He joins a host of other notable F1 names in Pat Symonds, the ex-Formula 1 chief technical officer who became Cadillac F1’s consultant and former Renault figure Nick Chester who has come on board as Cadillac F1 technical director.

There are, however, two big signings that they’ve yet to confirm – the drivers.

The team has already expressed an interest in having at least one American in the mix with nine-time IndyCar race winner Colton Herta, 24, leading the running.

“You mentioning candidates,” Cadillac board member Mario Andretti told NBC News: “he’s definitely one that’s considered.

“From our standpoint, I think the play at the beginning would be to have one experienced driver – nationality doesn’t matter – and then a young American talent. These are the objectives at the moment.”

However, former Haas team boss Steiner believes Cadillac should prioritise locking in former Red Bull driver and six-time F1 race winner Sergio Perez.

“If you’re Cadillac, you need somebody experienced,” Steiner said to GPblog. “Checo has been in quite a few teams for a long time. He knows his way around. He could be a big help.”

Although Perez had a difficult time during his final year with Red Bull, so much so the team and the driver agreed to part ways despite signing a new two-year deal earlier in the year, he played a key role in Force India/Racing Point earning a reputation as a team that punches above its weight.

“Maybe put him (Perez) on a one-year contract, it’s a lot better than having old rookies in there,” the Italian said of Cadillac’s plans to bring an American driver into F1. “That’s an opportunity for Checo.

“And by then, a year of digesting the beating from Max, he recovers from the Dutch beating, so it could bring him to a better place again. I would say he could have value for Cadillac.”

Steiner reckons a switch to Cadillac would play into Perez’s “comfort zone” as fighting for points in a car in which that’s the highest achievement possible is a different kind of pressure to trying to win races.

“Wait a moment,” Steiner said. “I don’t want to be cynical here. He was up at the front of the grid last year.

“We need to be realistic. Fighting for one point because the car cannot be better is one thing, but fighting for one point when your team-mate with the same car is winning races puts you in a different headspace, it’s a different pressure.

“Checo was very good when he was at Force India Racing, whatever it was called, Racing Point. He always overdelivered as an underdog. He couldn’t keep up with the pressure of the top team.

“So maybe it’s his comfort zone where he has not got that pressure to need to show that he’s good by winning, by showing that I can make a point, maybe that maybe puts him in a better place.”

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