Sergio Perez urged to overlook Cadillac for rival F1 team

Juan Pablo Montoya has urged Sergio Perez to wait and see whether a seat becomes available at Alpine rather than rush to join Cadillac.

Perez is a major player in F1 silly season ahead of 2026.

It’s been widely reported that Perez is the heavy favourite to take one of the Cadillac seats after initial talks.

Perez has also held talks with Alpine after The Race claimed that the Mexican’s management spoke to Flavio Briatore during the Miami Grand Prix.

Red Bull dropped Perez at the end of 2024 following a difficult campaign.

However, it’s thought that his reputation has only been enhanced due to Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda’s poor form alongside Max Verstappen.

Speaking to Sites de Aposta, Montoya explained why Alpine “makes much more sense” for Perez.

“I would still think Sergio Perez’s main aim is to get the Cadillac seat, but if he can get into the Alpine next year, that would be much better for him.

“If you’re doing one or two more years in F1 before you stop, I think Alpine makes much more sense. But what happens to Franco Colapinto? It’s a complicated situation. Could Perez come back to Red Bull?

“I think the only person who can displace Yuki Tsunoda is Isack Hadjar, he’s shown great potential at VCARB.”

Montoya predicts Cadillac line-up

Despite Montoya’s advice, he expects Perez to end up at Cadillac.

Cadillac will become F1’s 11th team in 2026 - and have yet to announce their driver line-up.

Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Mick Schumacher and Zhou Guanyu are all in contention.

IndyCar stars Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward are also on Cadillac’s shortlist.

Montoya has predicted Cadillac’s line up to be Perez and Zhou in 2026.

“Mick Schumacher was speaking to everyone at Miami, so that’s why he’s in the news again,” Montoya added.

“I’d be surprised if Cadillac don’t go for Sergio Perez as their number one, and I’d say Zhou Guanyu as their number two. Guanyu has been driving in the Ferrari engines as the reserve driver, he’ll be used to the systems at Cadillac.

“Also, Perez and Guanyu both bring a lot of money to the team. It’s a bunch of money they can invest into the car.”