Jacques Villeneuve has just told Sergio Perez exactly where he went wrong at Red Bull

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Sergio Perez refused to retire from Formula 1 after leaving Red Bull in 2024, and that decision has paid off just 12 months later.

He’s busy preparing to be one of the two Cadillac drivers for the upcoming 2026 F1 regulations, after the North American outfit sought some experience for their new endeavours.

Perez was paid to sit on the sidelines for the final year of his Red Bull deal, after being replaced by Liam Lawson for 2025.

Over the last few months, some have started to realise just how impressive his speed actually was. He might not have challenged Max Verstappen all the time, but he did find ways to push him.

Valtteri Bottas will score more points than Sergio Perez for Cadillac in 2026 – Change our minds

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Perez was ‘really surprised’ by Ferrari after getting the chance to drive their 2023 car in a preparation test a few weeks ago. He proved that he still has plenty of pace, too.

Yuki Tsunoda suffered from the same Red Bull problem as Perez, which ultimately contributed to their downfalls. Both felt a lack of rear stability and were rarely happy with their setups.

READ MORE: Sergio Perez issues bold prediction for what Max Verstappen will ‘become’ before he leaves Red Bull

Jacques Villeneuve thinks Sergio Perez failed to ‘understand’ the true problem at Red Bull

Perez’s ‘Red Bull nightmare’ is behind him after lapping impressively during his Cadillac test. Whatever the issue was at Red Bull, wasn’t particularly down to his driving.

Jacques Villeneuve thinks that part of the problem was Perez, and his failure to identify the real problems with his car.

“There are times where you have to adapt your driving to understand where the problem on the car is, so you can fix it and go back to your normal driving style,” he told the High Performance Podcast. “Everything complements itself. There’s one million reasons why you might have understeer.

“Do you have understeer halfway through the corner because the rear is a little bit loose when you go in? A little bit nasty, so you can’t turn in? Because of that, the front is not loaded, so halfway to the corner, you start understeering.

“Because of that understeer, you’ll come out of the corner completely sideways. Some drivers say, ‘Eh, listen, I have oversteer when I come out.’ No you don’t. You have understeer in the middle, but because of that understeer, it’s because you have oversteer when you come in. That’s where the problem starts.

“They have no clue, they don’t comprehend it [compared to Max Verstappen]. These drivers will be incapable of making cars evolve because they’ll try to fix a problem that doesn’t exist,” Villeneuve continued. “They will try to fix their own problem. So they just keep making the car worse and worse.

“They might get to a point where they go two or three tenths faster themselves because they’ve fixed it, but they’ve made the car worse. Both drivers go slower. That has been an issue with Red Bull. Everybody has been saying, ‘But, oh, the car is made for Max. Poor second driver.’

“Actually, no. Max is working on it, making the car better and better. If you’re incapable of driving it or figuring out what the issue is, during the season, you’ll end up going slower and slower and slower.”

READ MORE: Sergio Perez now doing ‘invaluable’ work behind the scenes ahead of 2026 Cadillac debut

How long will Sergio Perez be a Cadillac Formula 1 driver for?

Perez signed his Cadillac deal in August, and he reiterated how he was excited to ‘enjoy’ driving once more.

The agreement is ‘multi-year’, which means that he’ll be on the grid until the end of 2027 at least. There may be the option to extend the partnership through 2028 if all goes well.

That depends on both his and his team’s performance. It takes a lot to build a team from the ground up, as the majority of those involved in the three entries of 2010 will know.

Perez is ‘excited’ by the Cadillac brand, and his massive fanbase is something that should benefit them over the coming months. They will have plenty of support when they hit the track.