EXCLUSIVE: What Valtteri Bottas expects from Sergio Perez battle

Valtteri Bottas is relishing the prospect of going head-to-head with Sergio Perez at Cadillac.

Bottas and Perez will pair up to become teammates for the new Cadillac F1 team during the American outfit’s debut season in 2026.

36-year-old Bottas won 10 races and claimed 20 pole positions for Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton’s teammate from 2017-2021 as he helped the Silver Arrows claim five consecutive constructors’ championships.

Perez, 35, has won six grand prix, five for Red Bull and one for Racing Point. The Mexican contributed to Red Bull’s constructors’ title success in 2022 and 2023 before losing his seat at the end of 2024.

Both Bottas and Perez will return to F1 next year after spending 2025 without a drive.

“I think he's as excited as I am, he’s looking forward to it,” Bottas told Crash.net in an exclusive interview. 

"He's had a different year. I think he's definitely travelled less than me. Some good quality family time, which can be sometimes good, a bit of a reset. But he's looking forward to it.

“I think we can really work well together. I think we're going to make a good team. And us as a driver pairing, I think we can really put the team first, which is what the team needs for the years ahead.”

Despite racing for rival teams amid an extremely fierce 2021 title battle, Bottas says he has always maintained a good relationship with Perez.

“He’s been always good. He’s been always nice to me. I've always had respect for him. He's been great,” Bottas explained.

“He seems like an easy guy to work with and I’m an easy guy to work with as well. So it should be all right.”

The priority for Valtteri Bottas

Cadillac’s decision to sign two highly experienced drivers has prompted plenty of intrigue, with many excited to see how Bottas and Perez will fare in the same time.

A tight intra-team battle is expected, but Bottas stressed the focus needs to be on working together in order to drive Cadillac forward.

“I think the main thing for us is to work together and really drive the team forward together, not to waste time on competing against each other too much,” he insisted.

“I think that needs to be the priority and we both understand that. But again, let's hope we can be closely matched. That always helps us both to improve and push further. That would be nice.”