Sergio Perez’s Red Bull record compared to Max Verstappen’s vanquished teammates

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Red Bull have sacked Sergio Perez, making him the latest driver Max Verstappen has now beaten into submission alongside Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon.

The second seat at the team from Milton Keynes has become a somewhat poisoned chalice. Whoever Red Bull have signed to partner with Verstappen since promoting the Dutchman in 2016 has ultimately failed to meet the challenge, with Perez the latest name to get the boot.

Red Bull have confirmed they have terminated Perez’s contract for the 2025 season after the 34-year-old endured a largely disappointing campaign this year. His woes made the decision by team chief Christian Horner to extend Perez’s contract in June seem very poorly judged.

Red Bull terminate the contract of Sergio Perez after a disappointing 2024 season

Horner decided to extend Perez’s deal into 2025 with the Mexican otherwise a free agent at the end of 2024 having sealed four podium finishes through the first five Grand Prix. But the wheels fell off, even before Perez crashed with Kevin Magnussen in the Monaco Grand Prix.

Perez left the Miami Grand Prix marking round six of F1’s record-breaking 24 in 2024 sitting second in the drivers’ standings with 103 points. But he only managed to score a further 49 to end the year in eighth place, having failed to come higher than P6 in the remaining races.

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

Such was the Guadalajara native’s plight this year that Red Bull have terminated his contract for 2025 as Perez matched Jos Verstappen’s unwanted record from 1994. Perez is the first driver since Max’s dad to rank eighth or lower in the drivers’ standings in a title-winning car.

So, now the axe has finally fallen after the Mexican survived frequent rumours that he could be fired mid-season, F1 Oversteer has looked into how Perez’s record for Red Bull compares against the other drivers whom Verstappen has seen off so far in Ricciardo, Gasly and Albon.

Sergio Perez’s record at Red Bull against Max Verstappen

Red Bull seized on Racing Point axing Perez to sign the Mexican in December 2020 as the team opted to replace Albon as Verstappen’s teammate. Racing Point had axed Perez ahead of welcoming Sebastian Vettel for the Silverstone natives’ rebrand to Aston Martin for 2021.

Perez had just won his first Grand Prix with Racing Point in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix when he recovered from last place after the opening lap. Yet the Guadalajara native would seldom give more than a No2 for Verstappen, with Perez rarely a match as teammates with Red Bull.

Red Bull briefly looked like they could have an internal fight for the drivers’ championship on their hands in 2023. But Verstappen ruined Perez’s confidence after winning the 2023 Miami GP from ninth on the grid. The Mexican had started from pole position and never recovered.

How did Daniel Ricciardo’s record at Red Bull compare with Max Verstappen?

Red Bull promoted Verstappen from their sister team Toro Rosso to replace Daniil Kvyat next to Ricciardo from the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. The Dutchman also won on his debut for the Milton Keynes squad after fending off Kimi Raikkonen at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Strategy helped Verstappen to win the 2016 Spanish GP but it served as an early warning for Ricciardo. The Australian had already seen off Sebastian Vettel before Kvyat came and went. But Verstappen would give Ricciardo a run for his money, and turned Red Bull into his team.

Yet through their 2.8 seasons together as teammates for Red Bull, Ricciardo’s record against Verstappen was very comparable overall. Neither driver dominated the other in the manner that the Dutchman has recorded against those who then followed in Gasly, Albon and Perez.

Ricciardo only scored eight fewer points in those seasons than Verstappen scored. He also took Red Bull’s only pole positions over those years. Yet the Australian’s points tally is largely biased with his 220 to Verstappen’s 191 in 2016. Their tallies flipped to 170 and 249 in 2018.

Ricciardo began to believe the leadership of Red Bull team principal Horner and motorsport advisor Helmut Marko favoured Verstappen towards the end of his time with the team over 2018, not helped in the least by the saga of their crash at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

Verstappen moved in the braking zone and swiped the air off Ricciardo’s front wing, causing the Australian to pile through the Dutchman’s back and take both drivers out of the race. So, in a fairly costly mistake, Ricciardo walked out on Red Bull at the end of 2018 to join Renault.

Ricciardo would only win one more Grand Prix in his Formula 1 career driving for McLaren in the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. He never got to grips with McLaren’s car, so he was sacked after 2022. Ricciardo would re-join Red Bull as a reserve driver in 2023, before joining AlphaTauri.

Pierre Gasly’s record at Red Bull against Max Verstappen

Ricciardo deciding against signing a new contract with Red Bull saw Horner and Marko move to promote Gasly from Toro Rosso for the 2019 season. But the Frenchman would not even see out the year, as Red Bull swiftly opted to hand Gasly’s seat to Albon after just 12 rounds.

Gasly had impressed with Toro Rosso over his first full season on the grid in 2018, including taking P4 in that year’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Yet Red Bull quickly felt Gasly could not cut it as Verstappen’s teammate, so cast him back to Faenza and promoted Albon while still a rookie.

Horner led their decision to drop Gasly as he feared Red Bull would lose momentum in their efforts to fight Ferrari for second in the constructors’ championship. In the end, the Scuderia sealed second place on 504 points – trailing Mercedes with 739 and beating Red Bull’s 417.

How did Alex Albon’s record at Red Bull compare with Max Verstappen?

Albon made an instant impact in Formula 1 after Red Bull motorsport advisor Marko made a last-ditch bid to convince the London-born Thai to join Toro Rosso over his expected move to Formula E with Nissan, having signed with the brand midway through his 2018 F2 season.

Marko spoke with Albon about racing for Toro Rosso in F1 at the final round of the 2018 F2 campaign. It proved to be a great decision for both parties as he hit the ground running for the Faenza outfit in 2019 – including his high of P6 in Germany, plus a P8 in the Monaco GP.

So, as Horner had lost his faith in Gasly, Red Bull switched Albon and the Frenchman around in the summer break. Albon also enjoyed a strong debut for Red Bull in the 2019 Belgian GP when he recovered from a back-of-the-grid penalty due to an engine change to finish in P5.

Yet, despite often continuing to display solid if not remarkable race pace for Red Bull, Albon could not get close to Verstappen’s level – especially in qualifying. So, Horner looked outside the Red Bull family to sign Perez for 2021, despite Albon scoring his maiden podium finishes.