F1 legend's "rusty" claims against Cadillac duo countered by Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez has hit back at comments from Mario Andretti that he and Cadillac team-mate Valtteri Bottas are “rusty” after a year out of Formula 1.

Perez and Bottas both sat out the 2025 season after losing seats at Red Bull and Sauber respectively.

When Cadillac joined the grid for the current season, it elected to field the two veterans in order to fast-track development, rather than have to get a rookie up to speed while pulling together a fledgling team.

But speaking on the Drive to Wynn podcast, Andretti said: "To be honest with you, I think they’re both just a little bit rusty.

“They’ve both been out of the cockpit for at least one season. With the new package and everything else, they’re being very careful, you know, just to participate, and not set anything back by maybe going out there and creating more work that’s needed.”

However, Perez believes he has been operating at his peak from the get-go.

“I think, in terms of my performance, I am quite happy with it,” said the Mexican, when asked for a response to Andretti’s comments.

“Coming back, straightaway I was on the pace within a couple of days, and I believe I am in a good place in regards to driving.”

Perez has suffered damage in multiple sessions this term, with the engine cover exploding from his car in China, and mirrors falling off in Australia.

Further damage was caused in a collision with Bottas in China, which resulted in Perez finishing last of the 15 finishers.

Ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, Perez added: “To be honest, I think we’ve been performing at a very high level. Especially, I was very happy with my weekend in Melbourne. My first qualifying, I was quite happy with it. In the race, we had very different scenarios. We had a lot of damage, so it hasn’t been really straightforward.

“Shanghai wasn’t a straightforward weekend, and I had a lot of damage in the race, so I haven’t had a complete weekend, let’s say.”