Cadillac unveiled its new livery on Sunday for the upcoming F1 season. As a newcomer to the pinnacle of single-seater racing, the American outfit faces a tough year. No surprise they signed two seasoned F1 campaigners: multiple race winners Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas. The pair expect a tricky start to the campaign, but both emphasise it would be a huge disappointment if Cadillac turned out to be a backmarker.
In the run-up to the livery reveal — which, courtesy of a Super Bowl commercial, reached a multi‑million audience — Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas were asked about their expectations for the season. “We absolutely don’t have the mindset to finish last,” Pérez told Reuters. “Not with the investments that have been made. Ending up at the back would be a big disappointment. We know that we aren’t necessarily fighting for the title straight away, but we absolutely want to make progress and beat a few teams.”
Sergio Pérez spent last year on the sidelines of Formula 1; after 2024 he was dismissed by Red Bull. The return to Cadillac, the Mexican said, felt like coming home — perhaps because he’ll be working with Italian race engineer Carlo Pasetti, a name he knows from his time at Racing Point, now Aston Martin. “The staff have been recruited from almost every team I’ve raced for,” he joked. “This team has, with this structure, the potential to go very far. I think it’s going to become a very important team in Formula 1.”
‘Prepared for a challenging start to the season’
Teammate Valtteri Bottas acknowledged the scale of the project, which already made a huge impression with the season launch alone. Alongside an eye-wateringly expensive Super Bowl commercial, Cadillac’s F1 car was unveiled in a glass display on Times Square. “It was exactly what I expected,” he said of the launch. “From the start I knew the team would go all in; they’ve always said they would go big.”
On Cadillac’s competitiveness, Bottas remained cautious. He did promise to bring “all his experience” from Formula 1 — the Finn won ten Grands Prix during Mercedes’ heyday before he moved to Sauber in 2022. “I’m prepared for a challenging start to the season,” he admitted. “And I don’t mind if we don’t hit the ground running. Of course I want us to. But if that doesn’t happen, then so be it. It’s not about where we start, it’s where we finish together. That’s the drive.”
