Sergio Perez recalls one Red Bull ‘mistake’ that made him faster than Max Verstappen

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Sergio Perez’s time at Red Bull was filled with struggles and underperformance as he could not compete next to Max Verstappen.

The Mexican joined the team from Racing Point in 2021 and became one of the many drivers to struggle in the second Red Bull car next to Verstappen. But his woes were the most publicised.

He struggled to adapt to the car’s sensitive setup, given that it was tailored to Verstappen’s driving style. He made constant complaints, but Jacques Villeneuve thinks Perez failed to ‘understand’ the real problem at Red Bull, as he could not adapt to the machine

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Perez played a pivotal role in helping his teammate win the title over Lewis Hamilton in 2021, but he was considerably behind Verstappen in his four seasons at Red Bull. The 2024 season was particularly damning, finishing eighth with no top-five finishes after the first six races.

The Milton Keynes outfit cut ties with him in 2025 after the 35-year-old could not find performance in the car. But things could have worked out very differently for Perez had Red Bull stuck with a concept that they never meant to make.

Red Bull made Sergio Perez faster than Max Verstappen after mistakenly making their 2022 car too heavy

The 2022 season brought a regulation change to F1, which saw Red Bull dominate the grid in the ground effect era. Verstappen was the team’s lead driver, but initially, it was Perez who had the upper hand.

Speaking on the Cracks Podcast, the Mexican recalled how Red Bull made the RB18 too heavy, which suited his driving style. It made him faster than Verstappen in the simulator, who was not suited to the car’s early concept.

“Especially at the beginning of the season, in 2022, when the car was too heavy because of a mistake, so we had a very heavy car with the weight distribution too far forward, right?” said Perez.

“So it was much more stable, which was always what I was looking for. So, at that time, I remember that from the simulator I was faster than Max.

“I mean, I was already arriving at the weekends thinking about winning the race and everything came automatically, right? When you’re a driver, when you don’t have to think about how to drive, about what the car is going to do, everything comes automatically, right?

“And then we had a car that was maybe not quite Max’s style, and in 2022 I started fighting for the championship with him, until the upgrades came.”

READ MORE: Cadillac driver Sergio Perez’s life outside F1 from net worth to nickname

Sergio Perez is putting Red Bull behind him as he prepares for 2026 return with Cadillac

Perez won five of his six races with Red Bull, recording a best championship finish of second in 2023. But his pace deficit to Verstappen was truly alarming, which ultimately led to his exit at the end of 2024.

After a year away from the sport, he will make his return with Cadillac in 2026 alongside Valtteri Bottas. Perez is keen to play his part in building the project from the ground up, as well as reviving his own career.

Perez even aimed a sly dig at Red Bull after he privately tested a 2023 Ferrari F1 car. He felt much more comfortable in the car than his final few months in Milton Keynes, with Ferrari supplying Cadillac’s engines until their in-house power unit is complete.

F1’s 11th team could be the fresh start Perez needs to get back on track. But the pressure will be on to deliver results, especially given how poor his time at Red Bull went.