,Sergio Perez has never been short of motivation, even when the rewards have been painfully scarce. But as Cadillac’s ambitious Formula 1 project struggles to make the progress expected of a new team, the Mexican has conceded that disappointment is beginning to cast a shadow over his return to the grid.
Perez joined Cadillac for their inaugural 2026 campaign after spending four seasons with Red Bull, where he experienced race victories and regular battles at the sharp end.
The contrast could hardly be greater. Cadillac’s best result so far has been Valtteri Bottas’ P13 in China, while reliability problems and a stubborn lack of development have left the newcomer anchored near the back.
For Perez, however, the appeal was never simply about where Cadillac stood on the grid. He wanted to help build something from the ground up. That ambition remains intact – even if patience has been tested.
‘A bit of stalling’
Perez has made clear that he remains deeply invested in the project, relishing a level of involvement that few drivers experience during their careers.
“I really feel like I'm part of this project, of this new era, building something from scratch,” he explained on a recent Beyond the Grid podcast. “Of course, I want to win championships and be fighting at the front.
“But if you don't have that opportunity, I think Cadillac, it's something that motivates me a lot because it's like building a team from scratch and starting basically from last to see how far we can go together. I feel like here I'm much more than a driver.
“At the same time, they listen a lot to me on different things, on development and stuff. Only a few drivers can get that in their careers and it's the first time I can have this.
“I think the last few races have been a disappointment. There's a lot of disappointment because we haven't been developing. We haven't been improving. Us being a new team, is what we should be doing, like every time.
“So I felt like there was a bit of stalling in the last few races and that's why we had to review how we were doing everything. Obviously being a new team, there's a lot of things that we are constantly learning.
“I don't think we have improved as much as we hoped for. But the most important is we understand and we look at our processes, why it hasn't come, why we haven't improved in all those different areas. Because it's not only one thing. Being a new team, there's a lot of things that are in there and I can see them.
“If we improve our load, our ride, a lot of things, all of a sudden, we are not that far. We are at the back, but half a second, one second, will change our life completely at this stage. I feel like for us being a new team, it's in there. It's possible.”
The arrival of new team principal Marcin Budkowski has added another fresh dynamic to the operation, with the former Renault executive replacing Graeme Lowdon ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix.
Perez is hoping the change can help Cadillac rediscover the momentum he believes should already have been evident by this stage of their maiden campaign.
Building momentum for 2027
The Mexican is already looking beyond the immediate disappointment, insisting that the progress Cadillac can make during the remainder of 2026 could have a profound effect on its second season.
“I want to see more progress, closing the gap to the teams ahead of us, be able to mix with them more in the races,” the 36-year-old said. “Being able to close that gap will only allow us to start next year in a much better shape.
“Obviously, I'm looking forward to work with Marcin, see his leadership and I think there's a lot of room for improvement, not just on performance, you know, operationally, pit stops, strategy, tyres, there's so much still.
“It's only our 10th, 11th race in our history. So there's a lot of things. I want to see much more progress closing up the gap and I think that will give us a massive boost to start next year.”
Yet the biggest reassurance for Cadillac may be that Perez's frustration has not turned into disillusionment.
Returning to Formula 1 after his Red Bull exit meant accepting that he would likely spend much of his time fighting at the rear rather than battling for podiums.
Even so, he says the competitive fire has survived – partly because his benchmark remains an accomplished teammate in Bottas.
“You're still at Formula 1, you're still at the pinnacle of the sport. You're still working with the best engineers in the world and you are competing against the best drivers of the world, although you are far from them,” he said.
“For example, my team mate is Valtteri [Bottas]. He's one of the most successful guys in the current grid. He's one of the fastest out there, so to keep up the challenge with him, it's that sort of motivation.
“Although we might be fighting for no point, you're still talking the same language to the engineers, to the tyre group, everything.
“It's crazy, but it doesn't matter if you are fighting for the championship or you're fighting for P18, the language is very similar and a couple of seconds can change your life a lot on development.
"With Aston Martin, they were fighting with us one week before and then in Hungary, they made a massive jump and probably in two, three months’ time, they're fighting at the front and they're talking the same language.
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“That was something I thought when I was coming back, ‘the motivation is not going to be there because I will be fighting at the back’, but it hasn't been the case, I'm very happy that I'm still in Formula 1, talking the same language to my people around me.”
For Perez, then, the motivation is still there. What Cadillac needs to provide now is evidence that the sacrifice of starting from the bottom is actually leading somewhere.
Because while the Mexican remains committed to building the team, he is no longer disguising the disappointment of watching its progress stall.
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