The Mexican driver, who will return to F1 with Cadillac in 2026, recounted his experience with the team: “Horner told me right away that the car was built for Verstappen. If I won, it was a problem; if I drove slowly, it was even worse. Impossible”
“The psychologist had ended up costing me 6,000 pounds per session.” In just under a month, Sergio Perez will return to the track in his Cadillac. He’ll do so after a year away from the wheel but, above all, after four seasons at Red Bull in the uncomfortable role of Max Verstappen’s ‘sidekick’: “A difficult situation to endure; only those who are truly mentally strong can withstand something like that.” So the Mexican decided to speak out, revealing the secrets and difficulties of his years in Milton Keynes.
The story between Red Bull and Sergio Perez came to an abrupt end in late 2024, when the Mexican’s disappointing season convinced Helmut Marko to tear up the two-year contract extension signed just a few months earlier. Perez had realized from the very first months, however, that the atmosphere within the team was far from easy: “When I arrived, I struggled right away,” the driver tells the Cracks podcast. “The results just weren’t coming, to the point where they advised me to see a psychologist.” And Checo actually went. Too bad that “a few months later, I received a bill for 6,000 pounds from the factory… for a single session. I told them to send it to Helmut Marko. And in the end, he paid it.”
“MAX? HELL”— To complicate matters further was the awkward dynamic with Max Verstappen. “A real hell,” Perez says, “probably the worst role you can find yourself in in F1.” But the team’s priorities were clear. “At our first meeting, Horner explained to me that the car was custom-built for Max and that the team used two of them only because the regulations required it.” A situation that was also evident on the track: “Being faster than Max was a problem; going slower was even worse… it was all a problem. And when I was the one winning, the atmosphere was really very tense.”
EMILIO’S PNEUMONIA— Another telling episode occurred toward the end of the 2023 World Championship, when Red Bull had mandated that its drivers secure a one-two finish in the championship. “It would have been the first time in the team’s history,” Perez recounts, “and I was in a fierce battle with Hamilton for second place. The pressure was enormous, and just before one of the decisive Grand Prix races, in Qatar, my son came down with pneumonia. I had to make a choice, so I asked the doctor if Emilio’s life was in danger. In the end, I spent the entire week on the simulator, while back at the factory they called me crazy. This shows just how much I gave to Red Bull: on and off the track, I always gave 100% of myself.”
END OF THE ROUlette?— Without a contract for 2025, Perez saw his seat at Red Bull handed to New Zealander Liam Lawson, who was then demoted to Racing Bulls after just two races. “I knew exactly what would happen with Liam. The team knew it too, and when I asked Horner what they’d do if things got tough, the answer was simply, ‘We’ll use Yuki.’ And what if things didn’t work out with him either? ‘We have plenty of drivers… we’ll use them all,’ he replied.” A veritable game of roulette that, with the departure of Horner and Marko, might finally come to an end.
