Five worst moments of Sergio Perez’s Formula 1 career including Red Bull sacking

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Red Bull sacked Sergio Perez following the Mexican’s disastrous season in 2024, so F1 Oversteer has taken a look into the worst moments of his Formula 1 career yet.

The Milton Keynes squad confirmed that Red Bull opted to release Perez from the contract extension that he only signed the previous June. It was no longer tenable for the team to run Perez after he cost Red Bull the defence of the constructors’ title.

Former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner extended Perez’s deal to ease some of the pressure with his contract originally set to lapse after the 2024 campaign. But the tactic backfired and Horner accepted at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix it ‘didn’t work’ with his results after re-signing.

Red Bull sacked Sergio Perez after costing them the 2024 F1 constructors’ championship

So, Red Bull gave Perez the boot after the worst of his four seasons with the team by a big margin. The Guadalajara native ended the term only eighth in the drivers’ standings with 152 points, as teammate Max Verstappen won his fourth successive championship with 437.

His plight upon re-signing also saw Red Bull fail to defend the constructors’ title as McLaren won their first teams’ championship since 1998 on 666 points ahead of Ferrari on 652. Red Bull finished the year in third place with 589, with Verstappen unable to do it all on his own.

READ MORE: Sergio Perez’s life outside Formula 1 from net worth to nickname

Perez retiring from the Abu Dhabi GP on the opening lap due to contact with Valtteri Bottas did not help the Mexican’s cause. It was his fourth retirement of the year, and the fifth time failing to take the chequered flag given Perez’s crash with Carlos Sainz in the Azerbaijan GP.

Failing to out-qualify Bottas in his final race with Sauber likely also played a part in Red Bull’s decision to sack Perez. After a season on the sidelines, he secured a new seat in the series with Cadillac in 2026.

F1 Oversteer has taken a look at Perez’s worst moments in F1 to date…

Sergio Perez was disqualified on his F1 debut for Sauber at the 2011 Australian GP

Perez broke into Formula 1 with Sauber in the 2011 season after losing out on the 2010 GP2 Series title to Pastor Maldonado. It seemed like the Swiss squad had signed a real rising star, too, as Perez merited widespread praise after his F1 debut in the 2011 Australian Grand Prix.

The Mexican immediately put F1 on alert in Melbourne. Perez, who got a seat at Sauber due to a sponsorship deal with a Mexican telecom company, proved what became his trademark tyre management skill to end a one-stop race in seventh after 35 laps on a set of used softs.

David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan both selected Perez for their driver of the day in the 2011 Australian GP. But the elation came crashing down for the Guadalajara native soon after the chequered flag as Perez was disqualified from his debut as Sauber used an illegal rear wing.

Post-race inspections found that the upper rear wing element on Perez’s car and also that of Sauber teammate Kamui Kobayashi – who had ended the 2011 Australian GP in P8 – did not conform to the regulations. Sauber ultimately decided against appealing the disqualification.

Esteban Ocon accused Sergio Perez of ‘trying to kill me’ in the 2017 Belgian GP

Perez established himself as one of the best midfield Formula 1 drivers during the Mexican’s seven seasons at Force India (including one as Racing Point) from 2014 to 2020. But life with the Silverstone squad was not always idyllic, especially when Perez raced with teammates.

Some of the worst moments of Perez’s Formula 1 career have come when he has raced with his teammate, none less so than when battling Esteban Ocon in the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix. It soured what could have been a great day for Force India after starting in P8 and P9 at Spa.

Ocon joined Force India in 2017 and sparks quickly flew between the Frenchman and Perez. Sparks quickly flew between the teammates on the opening lap of the 2017 Belgian GP, too, when Perez squeezed Ocon into the old pit wall down the run from La Source to Eau Rouge.

A slipstream from the Mexican gave Ocon a great run but Perez drifted over the try to avoid the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg. But, in doing so, he left Ocon with nowhere to go. Luckily, it did not cause either car to sustain any damage with the F1 field packed tight on the first lap.

It was not the end of Ocon and Perez’s fight, though, as the war re-engaged on Lap 29 of 44 on the same part of Spa. This time, Ocon utilised the switchback out of La Source to get the run on Perez down the hill. But the Mexican was in no mood to let his teammate adopt P10.

Despite Ocon placing his front-left tyre beside Perez’s rear-right, the Guadalajara native kept drifting over to force the Frenchman towards the end of the old pit wall. Eventually the pair touched, with Perez sustaining a puncture after snapping the left-hand side of Ocon’s wing.

Martin Brundle immediately branded their incident ‘crazy’ over commentary for Sky Sports. Perez was also fortunate to avoid a high-speed crash through Eau Rouge after failing to spot his puncture before the iconic corner as he tried to stay side-by-side with Ocon all the way.

Ocon would ultimately end the 2017 Belgian GP in P9, whilst Perez retired soon after on L42. But the Frenchman was incensed by his teammate’s racing, leaving Ocon to launch a furious outburst aimed at Perez. He even accused the Mexican of risking their lives in their collision.

“He is supposed to be a professional with a lot of experience but he hasn’t shown it,” Ocon fumed after the 2017 Belgian GP. “I will speak to Sergio. I am furious… Just a stupid race.

“The first incident, I accepted even if I think he saw me. It is at the start, we are three wide, maybe it can happen. But the second one was one too much. He risked our lives in there and he costs points to the team.”

Perez, however, only accepted the responsibility for the opening lap incident as he selected the wrong engine mode. Instead, he suggested that Ocon was ‘too optimistic’ in their other incident on L29. But Ocon would double down on accusing Perez of putting his life in danger.

“Damage limitation today,” Ocon later shared on social media. “We were having a good race until Perez tried to kill me two times! Anyway, he didn’t manage to do [it], so ending up P9!”

Sergio Perez endured the ‘worst weekend’ of his F1 career at the 2023 Qatar GP

Red Bull dominating Formula 1 in the 2023 season saw Perez emerge as a title contender for the first time in his career. Wins early in the year on street tracks at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicked off the Mexican’s attempt to dethrone Verstappen.

But inconsistent results after Verstappen dealt a mental hammer blow to Perez in the Miami Grand Prix put the Guadalajara native on the back foot. It even meant Verstappen could seal his third consecutive championship at the Qatar Grand Prix in round 17 of the 22 that term.

Perez arrived at the Lusail International Circuit facing a mountain to maintain his title dream. Verstappen led his teammate by 177 points and could clinch the crown with P6 in the Sprint even if Perez won. Yet, in the end, Perez would not finish the F1 Sprint at the 2023 Qatar GP.

Verstappen sealed his crowning moment with P2 in the Sprint after Perez crashed out in an incident involving Ocon and Hulkenberg on Lap 11 of 19. Perez sought to take advantage of the Haas and Alpine drivers running wide out of Turn 1 but then had nowhere to go into T2.

Ocon could not see Perez getting the run on him and Hulkenberg as he drifted over towards the racing line for T2. So, Hulkenberg tried to back out at the final moment. But, in doing so, the German’s front-left tyre put Ocon into a spin, which collected Perez and took them out.

To make matters worse for Perez, the crash even forced him to start the Qatar GP from the pit lane instead of P13 on the grid after also failing to get into Q3. He would recover to P10 in the race, but it all saw Perez brand the 2023 Qatar GP as his ‘worst weekend ever’ in F1.

Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez crashed on the first lap of the 2024 Monaco GP

Perez bounced back from the disappointing end of his title bid in 2023 to begin the 2024 F1 season with four podium finishes in the first five Grand Prix. It also convinced Red Bull team principal Horner that Perez deserved an early contract extension with his deal set to expire.

Yet Red Bull announced Perez’s contract extension for the 2025 campaign on June 4, 2024 – just nine days after he crashed out of the Monaco Grand Prix on the opening lap. It marked the start of another dismal run of results, which laid the foundations for the Mexican’s exit.

Perez crashed with Kevin Magnussen on the first lap of the 2024 Monaco GP as he refused to lose an early position to the Haas driver following his disastrous qualifying. Red Bull had struggled with the kerbs around Monaco, as Verstappen qualified in P6 and Perez just P18.

The stewards disqualifying Haas drivers Magnussen and Hulkenberg from qualifying for the Monaco GP owing to DRS infringements promoted Perez to P16 on the grid. But it would be of little relief when the Red Bull driver crawled out of Sainte Devote and Magnussen gained.

Perez repeatedly checked his mirror as Magnussen positioned his car on the outside on the run through Beau Rivage. Yet the Mexican slammed the door in the Dane’s face right as the Haas star began to get an overlap, causing a pinch moment with the barriers at high speed.

Other than backing out of an overtake he was due to complete, Magnussen was helpless to avoid spinning Perez into the barriers. Hulkenberg had the perfect view of the incident, but was unfortunate to get tagged by the wreckage of Perez’s Red Bull and all three cars retired.

Perez, Magnussen and Hulkenberg would eventually come to a halt into Massenet after they showered the spectators and trackside photographers with debris. Three corners of his Red Bull were ruined, with Helmut Marko estimating Perez’s Monaco crash cost £2.5m in repairs.

Helmut Marko slammed Sergio Perez for an ‘incomprehensible’ 2024 Mexico City GP

Crashing with Magnussen on the first lap of the 2024 Monaco GP would effectively mark the start of the end for Perez as a Red Bull driver. He followed the incident by crashing out of the Canadian Grand Prix and did not end a Grand Prix higher than P6 beyond round seven of 24.

Perez stomached particularly disappointing weekends in 2024 at the British Grand Prix when the Red Bull driver beached his car in Q1 and at the Hungarian Grand Prix when he spun and crashed out in Q1. But nothing was more frustrating on a personal level than his home race.

The 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix saw thousands upon thousands of Mexican Formula 1 fans flock to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez largely just to cheer Perez on. But he failed to give them a show as the Guadalajara native qualified in P18 and he was 0.833s off the pace.

It marked the fifth time through 20 rounds that season that Perez failed to get out of Q1 for Red Bull. He pointed the blame at a braking problem, having also admitted before the round that 2024 had been a ‘terrible season’, with Perez struggling to control his car at slow speed.

But his home round only got worse from the start of the Mexico City GP as Perez, who even batted off claims he was set to retire from F1, drew a five-second time penalty after parking his Red Bull outside his grid box. Even if Perez refuted parking over the line when informed.

His race continued to be a turbulent affair, and Perez even sustained damage whilst fighting Visa Cash App RB driver Liam Lawson – the person who eventually took his Red Bull seat – for P10. Perez tried to squeeze past the Kiwi into T4 when the space was not there, ensuing contact.

Such was his plight that former Red Bull motorsport advisor Marko slammed Perez after the Mexico City GP. He vented: “Perez had a bad weekend in Mexico. We know that qualifying is not his strong point. But being eliminated in the first qualifying segment is very disappointing.

“The fact that a man with his experience would then position the car incorrectly in the starting box is incomprehensible and a real shame because his start was sensational… This was followed by a duel with Liam Lawson, in which both drivers were too impetuous.”