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Debate | Steiner could just have predict the right move for Perez
Sergio Perez will be on the sidelines for the 2025 season, after Red Bull previously announced that Liam Lawson will replace him. Could we see the Mexican return to F1 one day, or already in the 2026 season? Guenther Steiner believes there can be a solution to that, with a brand new team.
Talking exclusively to GPblog, Guenther Steiner said that Sergio Perez might just be the right candidate to join the team that will potentially enter in 2026 as the 11th team, namely, Cadillac. "If you're Cadillac, you need somebody experienced. Checo has been in quite a few teams for a long time. He knows his way around. He could be a big help. Maybe put him (Perez) on a one-year contract," he began.
Previously talking exclusively to the website, Mario Andretti, director of the board for the Americans, explained that he is a "supporter" of Colton Herta, who currently competes in the IndyCar series for Andretti and finished second in the championship the previous year. Even if Herta could be flying to American flag for the team, the second seat remains open, and as the former F1 world champion said, that would 'preferably be for an experienced' driver.
Fighting for points with a new team is completely different from having Red Bull's pressure on a driver's shoulder, and Sergio Perez has a perfect track record of being a steady midfield driver at Force India/Racing Point. After all, that helped him get a job at a frontrunner team like Red Bull, that opted for giving him a chance over one of the drivers from their large academy pool ahead of the 2021 season. Over his seasons with that team, only once in 2014 he couldn't outscore his at the teammate, Nico Hulkenberg. From 2015 until 2020, he had a perfect record.
Entering the 2021 season, as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen locked horns for the title, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were in the supporting roles. Bottas left Mercedes afterwards, and even as he could never challenge Hamilton for a title, he could prove he was a great midfield driver in the years that followed. Moreover, Perez will no longer have to be compared to the metronomic Verstappen alongside him, that many say is the hardest job in F1 at the moment.
One question will be there however: After sitting on the sidelines and having time off with his family, would Perez himself like to re-join the tiring world of Formula One, or racing at all in a different series?
Therefore, GPblog presents you the following statement: Guenther Steiner could have just predicted the next right move in Sergio Perez's career. Vote in the poll below, and share your thoughts in the comments section as well!
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