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After spending the 2025 season on the sidelines, Mexican Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez is set to return to the grid in 2026 with the brand-new Cadillac team.
But before Perez can look ahead, he had some air he wanted to clear about his time spent with Red Bull Racing as the teammate of four-time series champion Max Verstappen from 2021-2024.
In a recent podcast appearance, Perez called teaming with Verstappen at Red Bull the “worst job in F1, by far” and said that the team routinely favored the Dutch superstar to the detriment of Perez.
Sergio Perez Says Teaming With Max Verstappen At Red Bull Is ‘Worst Job In F1’
“At Red Bull, everything was a problem,” Perez said. “If I was very fast, it was a problem.
“Because, of course, it created a very tense environment at Red Bull. If I was faster than Max, it was a problem. If I was slower than Max, it was a problem. So everything was a problem.”
Perez won five races in his four seasons with Red Bull and finished second in the 2023 drivers’ championship. But he was replaced following an eighth-placed finish in 2024 that also saw the team narrowly miss out on the constructors’ championship to McLaren.
“Unfortunately, it all ended, but I was in the best team, in a complicated team, right?” he stated. “Because being Max’s team-mate at Red Bull is already very difficult, but being Max’s team-mate at Red Bull is the best and the worst job in F1, by far.
“And well, everyone forgot, right? When I arrived at Red Bull, I started getting results, everything. Everyone forgot how difficult it was to be in that seat.”
To some degree, Perez has a point.
Including Isack Hadjar, who steps into the role in 2026, Verstappen has had seven different teammates in 9.5 seasons with Red Bull. Part of that is due to his unique driving style and ability, which requires a car setup that many other drivers cannot handle. Another part is due to Verstappen’s often bristly personality.
But Perez also rarely challenged Verstappen for large stretches of time, and fell off mightily in 2024, despite Verstappen winning his fourth consecutive championship.
Either way, Perez should find life much easier in 2026 alongside Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas, who is considered one of the more likable personalities in the F1 paddock, and at a team in Cadillac that won’t have major expectations.