Speaking on Mexican entrepreneur Oso Trava’s Cracks podcast ahead of his 2026 return with Cadillac, Perez reflected on four turbulent seasons at Red Bull.
That tenure ended with his release at the end of 2024, despite finishing second in the world championship just a year earlier.
He said the environment left him in an impossible position.
“I was on the best team, but it was complicated because just being Max’s teammate is extremely difficult, but being Max’s teammate at Red Bull is the worst job there is in F1, by far,” Perez said.
Perez explained that his performance was scrutinised regardless of the outcome, creating a constant sense of tension within the team.
“At Red Bull, everything was a problem. If I was faster than Max, it created a very tense atmosphere; it was a problem if you were faster than Max,” said Perez.
“Conversely, if you were too slow and Max was slow, then everything was also a problem.”
The Mexican said the pressure only intensified as Red Bull’s development direction increasingly suited Verstappen, particularly during the ground-effect era, leaving him vulnerable as results dipped.
“All this pressure starts, which was very hard, because, well, who is to blame? The driver,” Perez said.
“Because you’re not focused, because you’re doing a lot of commercials or because you’re doing other things.”
Among the most striking revelations in the interview was Perez’s account of being pushed towards psychological help early in his Red Bull tenure after a run of poor results.
He said the suggestion came quickly.
“As soon as I arrived at Red Bull, in the first races when I didn’t get results, [they told me]: ‘What you need is a psychologist. You have to see a psychologist’,” Perez said.
“I was open to everything, of course. So I talk to the psychologist and say: ‘Hey, call me Sergio Perez’, ‘blah blah blah’ from an English guy.
“I say: ‘Hey, today I don’t have time for a session, but let’s talk, look for a time. Perfect.’”
The episode took an unexpected turn when the bill arrived.
“And one day he arrives at the Red Bull factory and says: ‘Hey, there’s a bill for you’ – for six thousand pounds from the psychologist. ‘Can you send it to Helmut, please? He’ll pay it’,” he said.
“It was six thousand pounds for one call!”
“So Helmut says: ‘Hey, how did it go with…? Perfect, with this session we’re good’.”
Perez said results eventually improved, but the pressure never truly eased, particularly in his final two seasons, when he believes upgrades and focus were increasingly directed towards Verstappen.
“The upgrades continued, but everything was for Max,” Perez said.
“So, from then on, I was already two, three races, four races, five races behind, and I never had that car again. What would have happened? Who knows?”
Despite the bitter ending, Perez said he regrets how Red Bull ultimately unravelled, believing the team had the potential for long-term dominance.
“We had the best team, but unfortunately, everything was destroyed,” he said.
“I think we had the team to dominate the sport for the next 10 years, but unfortunately, it all ended.”
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