Report: Sergio Perez opens talks with another F1 team

Alpine is emerging as a potential option for Formula One driver Sergio Perez for the 2026 season, according to a report from the U.K.'s Daily Mirror on Friday.

ESPN reported a week ago that Perez was in talks with Cadillac about potentially joining as a driver when it becomes the 11th F1 team next season. Cadillac, however, has other options under consideration, per ESPN.

Enter Alpine, which this week benched 22-year-old Jack Doohan for at least the next five weekends in favor of Franco Colapinto, 21. It also could be a landing spot for Perez should Alpine decide to part with both and go with a more experienced driver alongside Pierre Gasly next year.

After the season finale in Abu Dhabi in December, Perez and Red Bull announced they were cutting ties despite Perez having two years left on his contract. After finishing second in the standings to teammate Max Verstappen in 2023, Perez struggled last season. He failed to win a race for the first time since 2019 and had only four podium finishes. (He had 20 over the two previous seasons.)

Perez, 35, has been enjoying family time while away from racing.

In 281 career races, Perez has six wins, 39 podium finishes and four top-five finishes in the standings. A majority of that success, including three of those top-five finishes, came in his four seasons with Red Bull.

"Everything happened really late in the season," Perez told F1.com. "I wasn't really expecting it to happen. It only became clearer once we were in Qatar, and we started to discuss and negotiate my exit of the team. It all happened very quickly."

--Field Level Media