Sergio Perez is “good enough” to return to the grid in F1 2026, claims Otmar Szafnauer, as his only problem at Red Bull was that he was “facing Max Verstappen.”

After seven years of racing in the midfield melee with Force India, who became known as Racing Point and now compete as Aston Martin, Perez joined Red Bull in 2021 having been dropped to make room for Sebastian Vettel.

Could Sergio Perez return with Cadillac in F1 2026?

Winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in his first season with the team, Perez became the first of Verstappen’s team-mates to climb onto the top step of the podium since Daniel Ricciardo in 2018.

He was also hailed a “legend” by Verstappen for his efforts at holding up Lewis Hamilton in the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a race won by Verstappen to clinch his first of four successive World Championships.

But while the Dutchman romped from title to title, Perez managed just four race wins in his final three seasons with Red Bull as his struggles outweighed his celebrations.

Unable to match the pace of Verstappen despite his ambition of winning the title, Perez’s form imploded, leading to a qualifying slump in 2023, while in his final season with Red Bull, he also struggled in the grands prix.

This led to near-constant rumours about his place at the team and Red Bull eventually made the call after a winless 2024 season to say goodbye to the Mexican driver.

He is, however, being tipped to return to the sport next season with Formula 1’s new 11th team, Cadillac.

Formula 1’s season of change: F1 2026 explained

👉 F1 2026: Confirmed teams and power unit suppliers for F1’s huge regulation changes

👉 F1 2026 tech analysed: The future of overtaking and biggest car advantage identified

Szafnauer, Perez’s former team boss at Force India and Racing Point, has no concerns about the 35-year-old not being able to do the job for Cadillac as he reckons Perez’s biggest problem at Red Bull was that he was up against Verstappen.

“Can Checo be able to return? If you ask me, he’s good enough for that, yes.”, Szafnauer told Formula.hu.

“When he competed for me, he had everything: the fighting spirit, the talent and the skills. I think he had the same thing at Red Bull.

“Towards the end, he may have lost sight of the ball a little, but you have to remember that he was facing Max Verstappen there.

“He is a wonderful driver who rarely makes mistakes and has a great sense of tyre management. I think these are his strengths.

“Does he have any weaknesses? Well, I don’t know, I wasn’t there at Red Bull, but for sure he was very, very good for us.”

He added: “I think a guy like Checo, who has such a lot of experience, can make a successful comeback. It wouldn’t be a problem for him at all.”

Perez is reportedly in ‘advanced talks’ with Cadillac about a 2026 drive and was in Miami at the same time as the team held their official launch, where fans lined the street chanting “get Checo, get Checo”.

As reported that weekend, however, PlanetF1.com understands that no decisions have been made related to Cadillac F1’s lineup at this early stage of the driver market.

Graeme Lowdon, the Cadillac F1 team principal, recently insisted that the team have yet to officially sign either of their two F1 2026 drivers.

Asked by The Athletic if Cadillac had locked in a driver, he replied: “The reality is that we’ve got lots of parallel tracks that all need to come together for the first race in 2026, and yes, of course, selecting the drivers is part of that.

“But we’re in kind of in an interesting situation, timing wise, because we’re out with synchronization with the other teams.

“We haven’t got drivers sat there saying: ‘Well, I might go to this team.’

“Every (other) seat is full. We’ve got two and it turns out everybody wants to drive a Cadillac.

“That’s the one thing that I have learned. My phone has become very busy.

“And so, to some extent, we’re looking at everything we need to do.

“One of the key things we need to do is build the car for the drivers to actually race.”

Read next: Liam Lawson identifies fix to ‘wasted’ Racing Bulls performances