Max Verstappen managed to win his fourth consecutive championship last year, outscoring Sergio Perez by 285 points.
Red Bull had their struggles last year, but ultimately, Perez’s poor results cost the team the constructors’ championship.
Although Red Bull engineers apologised to Perez for not listening to his concerns about the RB20, he was still a long way off the pace of his teammate.
Verstappen was one of seven drivers on the grid last year who won multiple Grand Prix.
In contrast, Perez’s last podium came during the Sprint Race in Miami before he went on a run of 19 Grand Prix without a top-three finish.
Perez even started on pole position in Belgium before ultimately finishing seventh and at the back of the group of drivers racing for the four fastest teams – aside from the disqualified George Russell.
Red Bull released Perez at the end of the season, deciding to replace him with Liam Lawson despite the Kiwi’s lack of experience.
It’s not yet known whether the Mexican will ever return to Formula 1, but according to a report from the Spanish outlet Marca, his representatives are now working hard to make him a leading candidate to race for Cadillac next season.
The report from the Spanish outlet suggests that Perez’s representatives are ‘making moves’ for the six-time race winner to be one of Cadillac’s new drivers in 2026.
Perez doesn’t currently have a seat lined up to race in any series in 2025, which he may need to resolve if he wants to return to F1 next year.
He was already under pressure last season with some questioning whether he was still at the peak of his powers.
However, Perez wants to be the ‘experienced’ driver in Cadillac’s line-up, with the team likely to be offered the second seat to a less experienced American driver.
Marca believes that Perez could try and compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year and that would give any future employers an idea of how quickly he could adapt to a new series.
They go on to say that Perez’s ‘big goal’ is to return to F1 with Cadillac seen as a ‘great option’.
The support of Carlos Slim and Perez’s various sponsors will make him an enticing driver for Cadillac’s owners to approach.
He would provide Cadillac with valuable funding and his experience on the track could help a team who are going into 2026 with much less expertise than their new rivals.
With so many moves on the grid last year, it’s likely that the F1 driver market will be more stable in 2025.
It means that any driver looking to break into Formula 1, or hoping to find a new seat on the grid, will be looking towards Cadillac.
Colton Herta is one of the favourites to race for Cadillac next season but he needs to earn enough superlicence points in 2025 to be available to the American outfit.
Valtteri Bottas has been linked with a Cadillac seat, and he’ll be able to keep his skills sharp as Mercedes’ reserve driver this year.
McLaren and Williams can also call upon Bottas if required, although he’s not eligible to run in FP1 sessions due to his previous experience.
Marcus Ericsson has emerged as an outside candidate for Cadillac, although that would be a surprising appointment considering his previous Formula 1 record.
