F1 news: Sergio Pérez’s potential F1 return gets a boost from Jonathan Wheatley

A potential return to the Formula 1 grid for Sergio Pérez was guilty by one of his former bosses.

Sauber team director Jonathan Wheatley, who played this role after years as Red Bull sports director, told the official F1 that he had no doubt about the pace of Pérez’s race.

Pérez signed with Red Bull for the 2022 season and delivered a pair of victories during his first year with the team, first in Monaco Grand Prix and later in the year at Singapore Grand Prix, while the team obtained their first manufacturer championship since 2013. Verstappen reached its third title that year, Pérez finishing second.

He entered the 2024 campaign facing questions about contract status, but four podiums in the first five races of the season opened the door to a new contract with the team, which was announced before the Canadian Grand Prix.

However, this new contract was not enough to prevail over its difficulties during the last half of the season. Pérez scored only 13 points in the last nine weekends of racing, while he and Red Bull have faded in the standings.

At the end of the season, Red Bull announced that Pérez and the team had separated.

Now Pérez plans a potential return to the grid, perhaps with the new Cadillac F1 team. Wheatley gave this idea to the British Grand Prix.

“First of all, I really liked working with Checo. It’s a great personality, a great attitude towards life, a complete stop,” said the boss of Sauber.

“I have no doubt about his rhythm and his speed. It’s natural from the start.

“He put huge readers in my old team and I don’t think it was a barrier that he had a little time between driving a Formula 1 car because when you know how to do it, you know how to do it.”

Wheatley then praised the driver’s work ethics and the desire for performance.

“I spent a lot of time with him very early because I wanted to know him and I wanted him to adapt to the team,” added Wheatley. “What I really liked was that he pushed me into my sporting role – pushed me very, very strong.

“He made me ask me if I made every effort, not that he criticized, but he would challenge you positively and I appreciated.

“I think it helped me to motivate myself to become better in my work and I would like to think that it was perhaps reciprocal and the work that we did together improved it to its [job]”Added Wheatley.

“It is fully focused on performance and what do you want with a driver?”

Cadillac’s team director Graeme Lowdon has spoken at length about the options that the team is considering for next season, noting that there is a long list of pilots they plan to.

But rumors in the paddock indicate that the team considers to experience as a key line for their range, which would put Pérez and Valtteri Bottas at the top of their list.

And now Pérez’s rhythm has given a boost.