Although the dust has settled on Sergio Pérez’s turbulent time at Red Bull, the Mexican has not lost his sense of humour, or his sharp tongue. In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Pérez revealed what it’s really like to share a garage with Max Verstappen. Spoiler alert: it’s not for the faint-hearted.
When asked if he could have done better during his Red Bull stint, Perez’s laughter said it all. “You didn’t say that to his teammates after me, did you?” he quipped, with a small grin and a knowing look. With a small grin and a knowing look, Perez summed up what many ex-Verstappen teammates have felt but never dared to say.
The Mexican then added, surprisingly empathetic, “I don’t like to criticise those drivers because I’ve been in that position too. I know what they have to go through.”
It’s a rare moment of solidarity in a sport where teammates often share little more than a pit wall and mutual suspicion.
Pérez knows all too well what happens when the stopwatch favours Verstappen. The pressure doesn’t just mount, it detonates. Every tenth of a second becomes an existential crisis and every team radio message a potential headline.
No one can survive alongside Max
“When we signed the agreement about my departure, I immediately thought, ‘Poor lad’ [referring to Lawson],” Perez revealed, expressing a mixture of pity and amusement. “Try to survive, because it’s very difficult.”
He’s not wrong. Sitting next to Verstappen is tough enough, but doing so in the political pressure cooker that is Red Bull Racing is another matter entirely.
“People will never understand that,” Pérez continued. ‘There are so many things I could say about it, but it’s simply a difficult task for a driver. No one survives there. It wouldn’t matter if you put Hamilton or Leclerc there. Everyone is going to have a very difficult time.”
That sums up Perez, he is gracious enough to acknowledge Verstappen’s brilliance, yet honest enough to remind the world that Red Bull’s garage is not exactly a democracy. The car may be fast, but it’s built around one man.
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What if Hamilton joined the madness?
Pérez’s hypothetical scenario involving Hamilton and Leclerc wasn’t just mischief; it was a sharp criticism of the mythology surrounding the ‘unbeatable’ elite. According to Perez, even seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton would struggle under the Verstappen regime. The idea of Hamilton and Verstappen competing on equal terms in a Red Bull is pure fan fiction, but in Pérez’s world, Lewis would quietly request a sabbatical.
You can almost picture it: Hamilton’s cool, calm demeanour clashing with Verstappen’s intensity; Toto Wolff watching in horror; or Laurent Mekies pretending that everything is fine while calculating which driver he can afford to lose first.
New team, new chapter
Next season, Pérez will make his grand return to Formula 1 with Cadillac, joining forces with another familiar face: Valtteri Bottas. The two share a past in the intense environment of the 2021 title fight. This time, however, they will be united in a different kind of battle: helping the American newcomers find their feet in the sport.
It’s an intriguing move for Pérez, one that could offer him the breathing space he never found at Red Bull. There’ll be no Verstappen, no mind games and hopefully no pitwall politics, just the small challenge of turning a rookie team into something competitive.
As Pérez sets his sights on this new adventure, his reflections on his time at Red Bull are likely to tell him that he has survived to tell the tale and throw in a few well-aimed jabs along the way.
After all, in Formula 1, survival is victory, and few know that better than Sergio Pérez. As always, the jury is invited to discuss whether it is possible to “survive” in Verstappen’s shadow.
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The numbers have been flowing in torrents since Max Verstappen’s dominant win at the Us Grand Prix in Austin Texas. Across just four race weekends the world champion has outscored championship leader Oscar Piastri by 64 points closing the gap to just 40.
There’s more than enough points available for Verstappen to pull off the biggest comeback in F1 history and he’s within two points of being able to win a record fifth consecutive drivers championship should he win all the Grand Prix and Sprint races remaining.
Its just two years ago, the Red Bull ace won 19 of the 22 races that year and his biggest winning streak of ten consecutive Grand Prix had never before been achieved. To win five Grand Prix and two Sprint’s is more than doable as Max’s muscle memory from 2023 will surely kick in.
Red Bull upgrades keep coming
The huge surprise was that Red Bull decided unlike McLaren, to continue developing their car when any hope of a title for Max looked forlorn. The key to the RB21’s revival has been the Monza floor upgrade which opened the previously narrow window for setup.
The proof of the pudding has been Yuki Tsunoda’s improved performances he has scored 14 of his 28 points for the season since Monza whilst Max has won three of the last four Grand Prix and the Austin Sprint last weekend.
When asked in Singapore could McLaren respond with their own late season upgrades, Lando Norris laughed stating “its too late.” Team principal Andrea Stella admitted both of his drivers could have done a better job in recent weekends and that there would been more upgrades coming for the struggling MCL39.
Norris spent much of his race in Austin stuck behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in a car which isn’t supposed to perform well in the heat. Yet the temperatures were searing and the McLaren for most of the race cold not make the pass, which should be something of a concern at the Woking Technology Centre…READ MORE ON THIS STORY
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