ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) Max Verstappen says hes happy to see his old teammate Sergio Prez back for a fresh start in Formula 1 and that his experience will be a major asset to the new Cadillac team in 2026.
Cadillac picked the experienced duo of Prez and former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas to join the grid as the 11th team next year, even though neither has a race seat in 2025.
When I saw the news come out, I sent a message to him. Im of course very happy for him that he got a seat, Verstappen said on Thursday ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix .
The four-time world champion dismissed suggestions that Prezs disappointing end to his time at Red Bull last year when he was dropped after poor results could still affect the Mexican driver when he returns to F1.
Its a fresh start now. I think its not about one half of a season. That doesnt define what you can do. I think hes also quite easy in that. Some people maybe dwell on it a bit more, but for Checo (Prez), its a new start, Verstappen said.
Youre excited new cars, completely new cars (under the changed 2026 regulations) also. He has shown a lot of great things, even before he got to Red Bull, and during the Red Bull times. So just go in there, enjoy it again, and have a good time.
Prez made his F1 debut in 2011 and Verstappen said his years of experience across various teams and regulation changes would be very valuable to Cadillac.
Prez said on a podcast in June that hed been told Red Bull regretted the decision to drop him. His replacement Liam Lawson lasted only two races this year, then was dumped for Yuki Tsunoda, who is 18th in the standings with 10 races to go.
___
AP auto racing:
荷兰赞德沃特（美联社）——马克斯·维斯塔潘表示，他很高兴看到老队友塞尔吉奥·佩雷斯重返一级方程式赛场，迎来“全新开始”，并称佩雷斯的经验将成为2026年新加入的凯迪拉克车队的宝贵财富。
凯迪拉克车队选择了经验丰富的佩雷斯（Prez）与前梅赛德斯车手瓦尔特利·博塔斯（Valtteri Bottas）搭档，作为第11支车队明年加入赛事，尽管两人均未获得2025年的正式车手席位。
维斯塔潘在荷兰大奖赛前的周四表示："当我看到新闻公布时，立即给他发了信息。他获得了席位，我当然为他感到非常高兴。"
这位四届世界冠军驳斥了以下观点：佩雷兹去年在红牛车队因成绩不佳被弃用这一令人失望的结局，可能仍会影响这位墨西哥车手重返F1后的表现。
维斯塔潘表示："这是一个全新的开始。我认为这不仅仅关乎半个赛季的表现，那段经历并不能定义一个人的能力。我觉得他（佩雷兹）对此也看得很淡。有些人可能会更纠结于此，但对切科（佩雷兹）来说，这就是新的起点。"
“你会感到兴奋——全新的赛车，完全按照2026年新规打造的赛车。他展现了许多非凡之处，甚至在加入红牛之前，以及在红牛效力期间也是如此。所以尽管投入其中，再次享受比赛，度过美好时光吧。”
佩雷斯于2011年首次参加F1赛事，维斯塔潘表示，他在多支车队任职以及应对规则变更的丰富经验，对凯迪拉克车队而言将“极具价值”。
佩雷斯在6月的播客中透露，他被告知红牛车队对放弃他的决定感到后悔。今年接替他的利亚姆·劳森仅参加了两场比赛就被弃用，取而代之的是目前在车手积分榜上排名第18位的角田裕毅，而本赛季还剩10场比赛。
美联社赛车新闻专题：
配资行情提示：文章来自网络，不代表本站观点。
