Sergio Perez has been backed to make a comeback with a new team in 2026, as he prepares for a year out of Formula 1 in 2025.
The Mexican star has taken a sabbatical from the sport following a dismal 2024 season, and he was replaced at Red Bull by Liam Lawson for the 2025 season onwards.
Perez was outclassed by team-mate Max Verstappen in 2023 and 2024, culminating in an eighth-place drivers' championship finish last year that seriously hampered his team's chances of winning the constructors' title.
Perez's last win came at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, whereas Verstappen has won 24 races in that period, despite the pair driving the same machinery.
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Sergio Perez left Red Bull in 2024Liam Lawson will partner Max Verstappen in 2025
Will Perez return to F1?
Red Bull are hoping that Lawson will help them to get back into constructors' championship contention in 2025, with Verstappen having to become the first driver since Nelson Piquet in 1983 to win the drivers' title when his team were third in the teams' standings last year.
For Perez, his attentions are now switched to try and get back into the sport at the age of 35, at a time when teams are seeming to be favouring untested, young options.
One team that could be on the cards for Perez, however, is the new Cadillac team entering the sport in 2026, who have already said they want an experienced F1 racer to sit alongside a young American talent.
Now, a GPFans poll has conclusively decided that Cadillac are the best option for Perez, rejecting the idea of an Adrian Newey-Perez reunion at Aston Martin.
When asked 'Which team should Checo sign for if he returns to F1?', GPFans readers returned a comprehensive 65 per cent answer for Cadillac being Perez's best option.
A move to Audi earned a second-place slot, while a reunion with Newey at Aston Martin only received 11 per cent of the vote.
A very unlikely return to Red Bull alongside Verstappen gained five per cent of the vote, with some fans clearly thinking Perez has unfinished business with the Milton Keynes-based outfit.