Cadillac sign Perez and Bottas as F1 team's debut lineup

LONDON :Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas will be back on the Formula One starting grid next season after Cadillac announced the signing of the experienced race winners as the team's debut driver pairing.

The Mexican and Finn both have multi-year deals, the General Motors-backed outfit said on Tuesday without providing further details.

Perez, a six-times race winner, and Bottas, who took 10 victories for Mercedes, are both 35 and have unfinished business after being dropped by the Red Bull and Sauber teams respectively in 2024.

The announcement was expected, although some younger prospects had been touted.

"We believe their experience, their leadership and their technical acumen are really what we need," team CEO Dan Towriss told reporters in a video call.

"It's the right combination - the right drivers at the right time - and we're humbled by their belief in us in this project."

Both spent years alongside two of the sport's greats, Perez with four times world champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull and Bottas as sidekick to seven times champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

They also have more than 500 race starts between then - Perez 281 and Bottas 246 - and a combined 106 podium appearances.

Towriss said Perez in particular was keen to put "in the rearview mirror" his last season with Red Bull when he suffered a dramatic slump in performance.

"We had questions, we had scepticism... and he answered all of our questions, passed our tests with flying colours," he added.

Cadillac, who will use Ferrari power units until 2029 when General Motors hopes to have its own, face a steep learning curve as the 11th team at the start of a new engine era.

Perez and Bottas - the latter serving as Mercedes reserve this season - both said they were