Pérez Is Coming Home. The Job Has Changed.
Sergio Pérez returns to the Mexican GP with six career wins, a homecoming celebration and a Cadillac still searching for its first points. Austin gave him a reason to believe the gap is shrinking.
Sergio Pérez is returning to his home Grand Prix after a year away, but the assignment looks very different. The former Red Bull driver arrives with Cadillac, a team still chasing its first championship point after 18 races.
His welcome begins before the race weekend. A public showrun on Paseo de la Reforma is scheduled for Wednesday, October 28, at 10 a.m. local time, opening a week in which Pérez and the organizers will celebrate his 300th Grand Prix entry.
Sunday’s Mexican GP brings the competitive test. Pérez heads into it encouraged by aspects of Cadillac’s Austin performance, even though his 19th-place finish offered little evidence of that progress on the results sheet.
A different kind of homecoming
Pérez brings six victories and 39 podiums to Cadillac. His first win came with Racing Point in 2020, followed by five more during his time at Red Bull. This season, he has yet to finish a Grand Prix in the top 10.
That contrast gives his return its sporting interest. Mexico will welcome an established winner whose immediate challenge is helping a new team reach the points.
Cadillac sits 11th in the constructors’ standings on zero, with Aston Martin ahead on seven and Williams on 12. A single scoring result could therefore make a meaningful difference at the bottom of the table. For Pérez, doing it at home would give the celebrations a result to match.
Why Austin offered encouragement
Pérez started 18th and finished 19th at the United States GP, running a one-stop strategy from soft to hard tires. He lost time in traffic, but said Cadillac had been closer to its rivals during the race than he expected.
He also cautioned that competitiveness depended heavily on the circuit. That leaves Mexico as a test of whether the encouraging pace can carry into another weekend.
Valtteri Bottas reported a similar impression before retiring with a suspected power-unit problem. Cadillac used different starting compounds across its two cars to learn more about the tires.
Team principal Marcin Budkowski said the team’s trackside operation had improved, while identifying outright pace as the remaining obstacle to fighting the cars ahead.
The celebration is scheduled. The points still have to be earned.
The Reforma event gives supporters a chance to see Pérez before Cadillac makes its first Mexican GP appearance. It also marks his return after missing the 2025 edition.
The milestone recognizes a career already rich in results. His current team is still trying to put its first points on the board.
Pérez’s Austin assessment gives that pursuit a little more intrigue heading into Sunday. Mexico will show whether Cadillac can turn those closer spells into a race spent fighting for a scoring position.
