How Cadillac’s team chiefs ‘pressure-tested’ their way to debut F1 line-up of Perez and Bottas

Cadillac's driver line-up has been the talk of the town for months, and while the incoming American squad have kept public chatter to a minimum, behind the scenes, they've gone through a painstakingly detailed process to selected their first-ever race drivers.

Cadillac's initial shortlist for drivers was actually a very long list. There are believed to have been upwards of 15 racers on it early doors, though that did not include Daniel Ricciardo, according to sources, as the Australian wasn't looking for a return. Cadillac wanted to be thorough.

Some on that list were already on Team Principal Graeme Lowdon's mind, others were of interest to the F1 team and TWG CEO Dan Towriss and General Motors President Mark Reuss, while some were recommended by others.

It is believed that shortlist was trimmed to four pairings, some which featured two experienced drivers, some which featured a mix of youth and experience.

When Towriss and Reuss, in Towriss' words, "pressure-tested" those drivers, they came up with the final two – multiple race winners Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, who have more than 100 podiums between them.

"We believe their experience, their leadership and their technical acumen are really what we need," Towriss told select media, including F1.com. "It's the right combination, the right drivers at the right time.

"And we're humbled by their belief in us, in this project, and we couldn't be more excited to take this next step with them.

"There are a tonne of amazing drivers out there. There's a pool of young drivers that are exciting, very talented. So, this was a tough decision to work through this.

"Ultimately it was the experience and leadership of these two individuals that stood out among the rest as we made this decision to move forward."

Cadillac are throwing everything at their new venture into Formula 1, creating bespoke facilities across three sites – Silverstone in the UK, Fishers in Indiana and Charlotte in North Carolina.

They are creating a new team from scratch, employing people every day – 52 people are starting with the company over the next 10 days alone. They are building everything from a design office to production facilities, simulator to a power unit facility that will yield their own engine by 2029.

It's a mammoth task, even for an automotive and motorsport giant such as General Motors – so they wanted to be pragmatic with their choice of drivers to give them the best shot of hitting the ground running.

"These two drivers are really important to us because this is sort of the experience that Dan mentioned, of podiums and wins between the two of them; it’s something that we value greatly," said Reuss.

"I know firsthand developing new vehicles, and particularly in motorsports, the relationship of the driver to the technical team and the engineers, you can come out with all the tools in which we have invested heavily in between TWG and General Motors.

"So, we have the tools, we have the people coming on board to develop these vehicles and now we have the drivers that have had vast experience on the circuits of Formula 1.

"I think that's a really important part of this, and that feedback of the drivers that are experienced into the vehicle development itself is something that will be landmark in the history books here for Cadillac as it enters the big stage of Formula 1, which we've never done, obviously, and as a full works team.

"The commitment, the investment, the resources of people, and now the drivers is a really good, winning combination. So, we feel very good about what we're going to do here as we enter the grid in '26."

In Bottas and Perez, they have two hugely experienced and talented drivers, who have amassed a staggering 500 Grands Prix between them.

Both have been on the sidelines this year, after losing their respective drives at the end of last season, but both were hungry to get back on the grid to prove they still have what it takes.

Though their final seasons with their respective teams were difficult – Perez finished seven places and 285 points behind Red Bull team mate and champion Max Verstappen, while Bottas failed to score at Sauber – Cadillac could see past that and did their research to understand why they struggled.

"We spent a lot of time looking at past experience and what the state of the world was at Sauber, and really how Valtteri performed with the car that's there and kind of Qualifying performance versus race performance," said Towriss.

"And then in particular, probably the more complicated scenario was Red Bull, right? That's been an interesting saga to watch, a team that's really built around one driver, but has two.

"Clearly none of the other drivers have fared well in that second seat from that standpoint, and so we did take a lot of time to talk to people at Red Bull and get information and feedback.

"The process was lengthy and thorough from that standpoint. I think what that means is having looked through all that, we feel very good about Checo [Perez], his desire to be in Formula 1, to make a statement, to show the performance that he has and kind of put that last season or so from Red Bull in the rear-view mirror."

Bottas has been at every race, as Mercedes reserve, while Perez took some time out to be with his family before formulating his plan to find a way back onto the grid for the right project.

"When you look at Valtteri, he's at the track every weekend, right?" added Towriss. "And so it was important for us to kind of know where Sergio's at in terms of his desire to be back in Formula 1, and also his belief in our project in leading the Cadillac Formula 1 Team – and we couldn't have been more pleased with his response.

"In our meetings with him, he outperformed. If you would say we had questions, we had scepticism around some of these things and he answered all of our questions, passed our tests with flying colours."

In going for experience, Cadillac opted against youth in the form of Zhou Guanyu, Felipe Drugovich, Mick Schumacher and Fred Vesti and the temptation to take on an American driver.

But while there won't be a home driver in one of their cockpits next year, it remains one of the team's ambitions to bring an American through in the future.

"It's important to us to make sure there's a pathway for an American driver into Formula 1 and we'll be working on that," said Towriss.

"But I think for this inaugural season, for what the team needs, and again, really what these drivers bring, this was the right combination for our team."