Perez rejects Andretti's 'rusty' claim, insists he's performing 'on a very high level'

Sergio Perez has firmly dismissed Mario Andretti's suggestion that he and teammate Valtteri Bottas are "a bit rusty" after their year away from Formula 1, asserting he is performing at a high level despite Cadillac's clear performance deficit. The Mexican driver pointed to his immediate adaptation and a cleaner weekend in Japan as signs of progress, pinning hopes on a major upgrade for Miami to close the gap to the midfield.

Why it matters:

For a new team like Cadillac, driver performance and confidence are critical intangible assets during a difficult debut season. Public disagreements with legends like Andretti, who is intrinsically linked to the project, highlight the pressure on experienced drivers to validate a team's long-term vision while managing short-term expectations during a rebuilding phase.

The details:

• Andretti, the 1978 champion and namesake of the Cadillac chassis (MAC-26), suggested on the Drive to Wynn podcast that both Perez and Bottas were being overly cautious after a season out, describing them as "a little bit rusty."
• Perez countered, stating he was "very happy" with his performance in Melbourne qualifying and believes he was "on the pace within a couple of days" of returning.
• He attributed the lack of results to non-performance factors: significant car damage in Melbourne and Shanghai, and the inherent slowness of the Cadillac package, which is estimated to be 2-3 seconds off the pace.
• The Japanese Grand Prix offered a brighter data point, with Perez finishing on the lead lap for the first time in 2026 and cutting his Q1 deficit to the leader to 2.171 seconds, a notable improvement from over 3.6 seconds in Shanghai.
• Perez observed that while the car felt close to rivals like Williams and Alpine in race trim, those teams could consistently find more pace.

What's next:

All focus shifts to a promised major upgrade package for the Miami Grand Prix in May.

• Perez explicitly called it "the biggest test for the team" and stated a need to find a second of lap time to join the midfield battle.
• The upcoming upgrade will be a crucial indicator of Cadillac's in-season development rate and its ability to translate resources into on-track performance. Success in Miami could validate Perez's positive self-assessment and begin to quieten external doubts about the driver lineup.