Perez putting vast F1 network to work for Cadillac

Sergio Perez may be one of Cadillac's biggest assets behind the wheel, but the Mexican is also proving useful in a rather different part of the American team's Formula 1 operation.

As F1’s latest entrant navigates its difficult debut season and begins laying the foundations for the future, Perez is putting more than his driving experience at the team's disposal.

After years spent working alongside engineers, mechanics and senior personnel at Sauber, McLaren, Force India/Racing Point and Red Bull, he has developed a vast network across the paddock – and he is now using it to help Cadillac identify potential recruits.

Perez insists the final hiring decisions are not his to make, but he has been more than willing to put forward names and offer his assessment of people he believes could strengthen the fledgling operation.

Perez opens his paddock Rolodex

Cadillac's arrival as Formula 1's 11th team has created an expanded market for technical talent, but it has also triggered a fierce battle for experienced personnel.

Established teams are reluctant to lose key members of their organisations, leaving Cadillac with the challenging task of attracting people capable of helping transform a new operation into a competitive F1 outfit.

That is where Perez's extensive experience and relationships could prove particularly valuable.

"I mean, I obviously know a lot of good people out there, you know, I've been in this paddock for a long time," Perez said on a recent Beyond the Grid podcast.

"I've been trying to get a few people, of course, but at the end of the day, you have to also know your position. And I am not the one that takes those decisions on who I bring and who I hire.

"It is not my role. But I obviously try to influence and try to tell the team, I mean, 'I think this guy will be good if he comes' and so on. And all I can see is that the appetite for Cadillac around the paddock is rising every time.

"And that's something good to have as a Formula 1 team."

That growing appetite could be crucial for Cadillac as it attempts to accelerate its development.

A new team inevitably lacks the institutional knowledge and established working relationships that its rivals have accumulated over decades, making the ability to identify the right people particularly important.

Perez, meanwhile, has the rare advantage of having actually worked with many of those potential candidates.

Cadillac can learn beyond F1

The Mexican also sees another major opportunity in Cadillac's relationship with General Motors.

Rather than simply importing established Formula 1 practices, Perez believes the team can benefit from the enormous motorsport experience accumulated elsewhere within the GM empire.

The American manufacturer's involvement across multiple championships could provide Cadillac with ideas that its F1 rivals might not possess.

"I do believe [in GM's operational set-up] because GM, it's a manufacturer that has done motorsport for their entire career," Perez said. "And the level of competitiveness in the US, it's extremely high.

"I mean, they've been very helpful in a lot of ways. We've been able to learn stuff from them. I think as a team, we have to be open.

"You know, there's a lot we can learn from other series, other ways of doing things. For example, McLaren was able to get advantage from their IndyCar team a few years ago with how they were treating the ride and stuff like that. So there's always room to improve and learn things.

"I think as long as you have your mechanism very clear and you are able to deliver the idea quickly to the track, then that's positive."

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That willingness to look outside the traditional F1 bubble could become one of Cadillac's greatest strengths. The team is not burdened by decades of established habits, giving it the freedom to borrow ideas from other forms of racing while building its own identity.

And Perez is clearly embracing his role in that process.

The 2026 season may be Cadillac's baptism into Formula 1, but the team's ambitions stretch well beyond simply surviving its maiden campaign.

With Perez using his experience and contacts to help strengthen the organisation from within, the Mexican is making it clear that his contribution to Cadillac is about considerably more than what he can deliver on race day.

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