Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez could follow strict Cadillac rule that no other F1 team has

Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez may need to follow a unique Cadillac 'rule' when they start working with the team ahead of the 2026 F1 season.

The American team confirmed on Tuesday that Bottas and Perez will drive for them in their inaugural season on the grid.

They possess 527 Grand Prix starts between them, adding a valuable amount of experience to a team that will be likely be battling for the lower placings in its first year.

Previously, US team Andretti Autosport, led by the briefly former McLaren driver Michael Andretti, had a bid rejected by the FIA to become F1's 11th team for 2026.

The prospective entry was taken over by American car manufacturer General Motors, who rebranded it as Cadillac - their luxury vehicle division.

General Motors is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, along with Cadillac.

The Formula 1 team, meanwhile, is set to have four main bases.

Alongside a base in Michigan, there will also be headquarters set up in Indiana and North Carolina, and near Silverstone.

The only other F1 team with a US base is Haas, who are headquartered in North Carolina.

Significantly, though, the vast majority of their race operations are based in the UK, as well as in Maranello, Italy due to their long-standing technical partnership with Ferrari.

Cadillac's race operations, meanwhile, are largely set to be based in Indiana - meaning that Bottas and Perez could be in the unique position of having significantly more commitments in the United States than they would if they were driving for any other F1 team.

Bottas and Perez speak out on Cadillac move

At a news conference following the announcement of their multi-year contracts at Cadillac, both Bottas and Perez spoke publicly for the first time about F1's newest team.

Bottas said (via the Daily Mirror): "I'm here to give everything I have to the team ... of course, we're realistic. It's going to be a mountain of work to do and it's going to be probably a difficult start. But we're not there to stay at the back. We don't want to finish last.

"There's no reason why we shouldn't be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and that way enjoy some success. We still have quite a few years left in the tank."

Perez, meanwhile, commented: "The more I was talking to the Cadillac team, the more it became apparent that this is what excites me to go back. It's a project itself ... this is a whole project.

"There are some plans with the team to test a Formula 1 car before the end of the year. Next year, with so much testing that we're going to have, it's going to make that dust go away extremely quickly.

"I know what Formula 1 is about and I will be ready to deliver from the first race onwards."