Cadillac to begin F1 testing, Sergio Perez "hasn't driven for a while!"
Cadillac has a plan to start testing before the end of the year, but it won’t be running its own car.
Cadillac is set to work with an as-yet-unnamed partner team to conduct private testing in 2025, before its first Formula 1 car comes on stream in 2026.
The General Motors brand is ramping up preparations for its F1 debut next year, having announced Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as its two race drivers on Tuesday.
Its entry also coincides with the introduction of new technical regulations, which will see the pre-season schedule expanded to 10 days across three tests.
However, being an all-new team, Cadillac does not only have to get its new car up and running, but also integrate its newly-assembled crew.
As such, partnering with another team to run an older-generation car before the end of 2025 will help accelerate that process.
The planned running would precede the first official test at Barcelona in January, where Cadillac’s new F1 car will run in anger for the first time.
“We'll be introducing car testing as well this year,” team principal Graeme Lowdon told the media, including Crash.net.
“Obviously, we have to work with others to be able to do that, but that’s perfectly allowable under the regulations.
“We don't have a TPC car or a car we can operate [on our own].”
Sergio Perez to benefit from early Cadillac F1 test
Such a test would also ease Perez’s return after spending a year away from F1 following his abrupt exit from Red Bull in 2024.
While his new teammate Bottas has been conducting private running in his role as Mercedes’ reserve, Perez hasn’t accumulated any mileage in grand prix machinery since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December last year.
“Obviously I haven't driven anything for a while other than karting with my son,” he said.
“But there are some plans with the team to test a Formula One car before the end of the year. And obviously next year with so much testing that we're gonna have, it's gonna make that last [rust] go away extremely quickly.”
He added: “I will be definitely in contact with the team very regularly and visiting them and and.
“Also looking forward to seeing if we can do some driving as well this year before the end of the year, just to get myself up to speed again because I want to be as ready as possible for when the winter testing starts.”
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Rachit joined the Crash.net team in 2025 with a primary focus on F1 and sportscar racing.
He previously served as a news editor at Motorsport.com, where he played a key role in the day-to-day editorial operations.
