Cadillac’s new team principal Marcin Budkowski hasn’t even unpacked his desk yet, and he’s already being asked whether Sergio Perez is walking out the door. The short answer from the Cadillac camp is a firm no. The slightly longer answer contains a caveat that should make Perez pay attention.
Confident Words, Careful Wording
CEO Dan Towriss was emphatic when the Williams rumours were put to him directly. “I’m very confident that Checo is going to remain with Cadillac,” he said. “We’re not distracted by the Williams rumours for a second.” Strong stuff. Then, almost in the same breath, Towriss added: “It’s Formula 1, and things can always change. There are no changes planned at the moment for ’27, but things can always change.”
That is not quite the cast-iron guarantee it sounds like on first read. In F1, “no changes planned” has a well-established history of becoming a very politely worded P45.
Why Perez Actually Matters to Cadillac
To be fair to Budkowski, his case for keeping Perez is coherent rather than just diplomatic. The logic runs like this: Cadillac is a brand-new operation learning everything on the fly. Put a rookie alongside a learning team and you have chaos. Perez, with six race wins and nearly 300 grand prix starts, provides the institutional knowledge that no engineering hire can replicate overnight.
“If you have a driver learning and the whole team learning at the same time, that’s too many variables. It’s important to have a driver like Checo on board.” – Marcin Budkowski
It is a reasonable argument. Perez has also apparently been pushing hard behind the scenes, pressing the team to develop the MAC-26 with the same urgency he experienced at Red Bull. That kind of pressure, applied consistently, is genuinely valuable for a young outfit.
The Camara Question Refuses to Go Away
Complicating the loyalty narrative is the name Rafael Camara. The Ferrari junior and reigning F3 champion is third in the F2 standings in his rookie year, with wins at Barcelona and Spa. Reports surfaced linking Cadillac to the 21-year-old, and Towriss did not exactly slam the door shut. He called the rumours “unsubstantiated” but pointedly refused to rule anything out for 2027.
Promoting a Ferrari Driver Academy graduate to a Ferrari-powered Cadillac seat would, of course, do wonders for the commercial relationship between the two organisations. Budkowski dodged that question entirely when it was raised, which says something in itself. For more on how Cadillac’s technical partnership shapes its decisions, see our piece on how the FIA’s power unit regulations are affecting team strategies.
Perez’s Rehabilitation Is Real
It would be easy to dismiss Perez as a spent force, but 2026 has been a quiet redemption arc. After being dropped by Red Bull at the end of 2024 and sitting out 2025 entirely, he is leading Bottas 9-5 in qualifying head-to-heads and has been Cadillac’s driving force in closing the gap to the midfield. Williams are reportedly struggling badly this season, which is precisely why they are sniffing around.
Cadillac insists they are not selling. But in Formula 1, a team that keeps reminding everyone it isn’t distracted by something is, almost by definition, at least a little bit distracted by it.
