Sergio Perez: “I survived for so long” at Red Bull despite “undriveable” F1 car

New Cadillac Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez certainly sounds vindicated when it comes to his time at Red Bull.

Perez was dropped at the end of last season after a four-year stint as Max Verstappen’s team-mate, during which he was a consistent podium finisher until his performance collapsed shortly after the 2024 campaign began.

Perez struggled with a peaky Red Bull F1 car that matched Verstappen’s oversteery preferences, with the team failing to make it stable enough for any other driver to handle it efficiently.

Given Pierre Gasly’s and Alexander Albon’s difficulties before him, Perez feels Liam Lawson’s and Yuki Tsunoda’s hardship this season is restoring his reputation and establishing his status as Verstappen’s most competitive team-mate since Daniel Ricciardo in the 2010s.

“It's just the whole dynamics of the team,” the Mexican told Sky Sports. “Obviously, they have a unique talent over there with Max. It's very difficult for the second driver that is there to basically adapt to the car.

“It's a very unique car, very unique driving style that I managed, I'd say, to survive for many years. But it's difficult and it's the way it works, you know, and you've seen it with great drivers just before my time or even after my time.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

“I think Yuki and Liam, they've scored like five points or something like that [seven points, actually]. So it is very, very difficult, very tricky. And they're fantastic drivers, you know, but it's just the way it is to drive it. It's just a very unique driving style.

“Sometimes I could cope with it, I could adapt to it, but as soon as there was a variable with the rain, with the wind or something, it just became undriveable.

“And then you start making mistakes one after the other, you are losing confidence – but mentally I was super strong and that's why I survived there for so long, because I did have a lot of pressure and a lot of you guys [journalists] were onto me. And now you realise the job I've done in that car and that team.”

Other than a dig at the media by a driver who did have an 18-race podium-less streak in a drivers’ championship-winning car and a 1-29 qualifying record against Verstappen, Perez also revealed Cadillac got in touch with him regarding a potential 2026 F1 drive as early as December 2024, “when it became clear that I was going to leave Red Bull”.

But is there any concern that the 35-year-old veteran might struggle again on his F1 return, especially in the context of new regulations? On the contrary, Sky Sports brought up comments from paddock stalwart Pat Symonds, now an executive engineering consultant for Cadillac, stating that the 2026 rules – which he deems closer to 2021 than current-generation F1 cars – will better suit Perez and a faltering Lewis Hamilton.

“This era of cars that we're currently in with the ground-effect cars, it's been tricky,” Perez admitted. “With Lewis, you have seen it, he's done a tremendous job at Mercedes when they didn't have a competitive car. I think for him at the end of an era to be changing teams and getting to adapt has been tricky, but obviously it's a fantastic driver and for sure he'll figure it out.

“We've seen it with many different drivers that it's all about adapting a car into a driving style, that sometimes it just takes a little bit longer than others. I've done well in the previous eras, so I do expect that the new regulations will suit my style.”