F1MATHS: Key numbers and facts about Cadillac's driver pairing

Ahead of its debut in 2026, the Cadillac F1 Team announced on Tuesday that Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez will race for the team when the American outfit arrives on the grid next season. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers some key numbers and facts.

Race starts - Vallteri Bottas started in 246 races while Sergio Perez completed 281 Grands Prix, which makes the Mexican driver the more experiences F1 driver.

Teams - After two years as a test driver, Bottas signed for Williams in 2013 to partner Pastor Maldonado, making his Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix. The Finn signed for Mercedes in 2017, replacing the retiring Nico Rosberg to partner Lewis Hamilton. The Nastola-born driver joined Alfa Romeo in 2022, retaining his seat for his 2023 campaign. After a non-scoring 2024 season at the re-branded Sauber, Bottas returned to Mercedes as a reserve driver.

A member of the Ferrari Driver Academy since 2010, Pérez signed for Sauber in 2011 to partner Kamui Kobayashi, making his Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix. For the 2013 season, Pérez moved to McLaren, replacing Lewis Hamilton to partner Jenson Button. After a podium-less season for McLaren, Pérez signed with Force India in 2014.

Replaced by Sebastian Vettel at the re-branded Aston Martin for 2021, Pérez signed for Red Bull to partner Max Verstappen; spending four years at the Milton Keynes-based outfit before reaching a mutual agreement to terminate his contract.

Victories - Bottas won 10 victories, while Perez came out victorious in 6 Grands Prix. The Finn secured his maiden F1 victory at the 2017 Russian Grand Prix before adding two more wins to his tally that season. Despite his competitive car in 2018, he was unable to win, but the 2019 season saw Bottas four victories.

During the coronavirus-influenced 2020 season, the Finnish driver was victories in Austria and Russia, and scored his last F1 victory at next year’s Turkish Grand Prix.

Pérez took his maiden win at the Sakhir Grand Prix, having been in last-place at the end of the first lap. The Mexican secured his first victory for the team at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

In 2022, Pérez won two street races – the Monaco and the Singapore Grands Prix before he secured two more wins in Jeddah and Baku the following season.

Podiums – Bottas secured a total of 67 podium finishes while Pérez stood on the rostrum in 39 races. For the Finn, the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix marked the first podium finish while the Mexican achieved his maiden podium finish at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix with Sauber.

Pole position – There is a big difference between Perez and Bottas in terms of the pole positions. The Finnish driver scored a total of 20 poles, achieving his first one at the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix with Mercedes.

In contrast, Pérez had to wait much longer in his F1 career to secure pole position. The Mexican proved quickest for the first time in a qualifying session at the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, repeating this result at the same venue a year later before achieving his third pole position at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix.

Equal – The highest championship position was a second place for both Bottas and Pérez. The Finn achieved this feat in 2019 when he finished second behind his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Pérez finished third in 2022 when the ground-effect cars were introduced before improving to second in the drivers’ standings in the following season.