Perez chooses Cadillac for his final chapter

Sergio Perez has given his Formula One career a clear ending. On Thursday, ahead of his home Mexico City Grand Prix, the 36-year-old Mexican said his newly extended Cadillac agreement would be his final Formula One contract, framing the deal as the closing chapter of a career now spent building a new team.

General Motors confirmed on 28 October that Perez had signed a multiyear extension keeping him with Cadillac until at least 2029. His original deal was understood to run to the end of 2027, so the new agreement adds two years and covers 2027, 2028 and 2029. For a driver who returned this year after a year away, it is a vote of faith in a team yet to score a point.

Perez was direct about why he is drawing the line where he is. Reports of his Thursday announcement describe the extension as his final Formula One contract, with the closing years framed around building the Cadillac project and spending more time with his family as his children reach important stages of their lives. That turns an ordinary extension into a farewell timetable.

A milestone made for Mexico City

The announcement could hardly have landed on a more fitting weekend. Perez heads into his 300th Grand Prix weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, in front of the home crowd that has followed him to six Grand Prix victories with Sauber, McLaren, Force India, Racing Point and Red Bull. The contrast is the story of the weekend: a landmark made louder at home, even while his car is still at the back.

A builder's job, not just a driver's seat

Perez has described Cadillac as a construction project, not simply a drive. “Joining Cadillac Formula 1 Team from day one was a project I truly believed in, and extending my commitment feels like a natural continuation of this chapter,” he said. “Building a Formula 1 team from the ground up takes time, relentless work and patience, but the progress we are making together is incredibly rewarding. There is still a lot of work ahead of us and I am fully committed for the next three years.”

That explains what Cadillac is buying. In its first season, the team is still learning how to turn driver feedback into design direction, and a driver who has worked inside very different organisations can show engineers what a competitive car should feel like.

Cadillac chief executive Dan Towriss made the same point. “On the eve of a special weekend in Mexico City, we’re thrilled to announce that Checo will remain an integral part of Cadillac Formula 1 Team for years to come,” he said. “Building a competitive team in F1 is a long-term journey, and securing Checo’s talent and leadership gives us the continuity and commitment we need to build on the strong foundation established in our first year.”

After leaving Red Bull at the end of 2024 and spending 2025 away from a race seat, he has tied his remaining years to one team’s longer arc.

The scoreboard Cadillac still has to change

None of that softens the competitive reality. Cadillac is eleventh in the 2026 standings with no points after 18 Grands Prix, and its best race finish is 13th. Its race drivers are Perez and Valtteri Bottas, and the team currently runs Ferrari power units. Formula 1 says General Motors is due to introduce its own power unit from 2029, so Perez’s extension runs into that planned transition, although the announcement promises no particular performance level.

Continuity is valuable, but it is not a result. Cadillac must improve relative to its rivals, not merely relative to its own difficult debut. The extension also settles only half the driver question, securing Perez without by itself settling Bottas’s future.

What the weekend looks like

Practice begins on Friday 30 October, with sessions at 12:30 and 16:00 Mexico City time. Qualifying follows on Saturday at 15:00, and Sunday’s race is scheduled for 14:00 local time, or 20:00 UTC, over 71 laps of the 4.304-kilometre Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Briefly elsewhere, championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, 20 and 123 points clear with nine wins from 18 races, was excused from Thursday media duties with a viral illness and is expected back on Friday; he can clinch the title on Sunday with a top-nine finish. Bottas was also unwell on Thursday and took a day of rest. George Russell has suggested Ferrari’s smaller turbo could be an advantage at altitude of more than 2,200 metres.

Sunday is Perez’s 300th start, at home, with his future settled through at least 2029. He has chosen to spend his final Formula One contract helping Cadillac become the team it is not yet. How much progress that partnership makes, and how soon, will decide how this final chapter is remembered.