Sergio Perez: Intense Red Bull pressure “ended up costing us a lot”

Sergio Perez believes Red Bull contributed to the toxic environment around his side of the garage during the second half of the 2024 Formula 1 season – putting unnecessary pressure on him to deliver results.

Since his abrupt departure from F1, Perez has given few interviews discussing the issues that led to the termination of his two-year contract extension, which was set to run until 2026.

Speaking about his Red Bull exit with former driver Memo Rojas Jr, three-time Daytona 24 Hours winner, Perez pointed out that Red Bull did not protect him, despite the fact the team was aware of the difficulties in developing the car.

“In the end, that’s how the sport is. Decisions were made because there was too much pressure that they themselves ended up creating,” Perez told the Desde el Paddock podcast.

“I had a signed contract in Monaco, but from the next race onwards, everyone was talking about my future even though I already had a signed contract.

“It would have been easy for the team to protect me and say, ‘You know what? We have a driver signed for the next two years’. But that wasn’t the case. From then on, no one talked about anything other than Red Bull race after race.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“In the end, there was a lot of pressure on my side of the garage…it was putting a lot of pressure on the engineers, on everyone involved, and I think in the end that ended up costing us a lot.”

Red Bull regrets

Red Bull replaced Perez with New Zealander Liam Lawson, who lasted two grands prix before being dropped in favour of Yuki Tsunoda. Neither driver has achieved the points total that was expected, following in the footsteps of Perez in struggling to match the results of world champion team-mate Max Verstappen.

At the time, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko blamed Perez for the fact that the team members would not receive their annual bonus after losing the constructors’ championship, a statement he has not repeated despite the team now being fourth in the standings this year.

Perez, meanwhile, pointed out that he has since been told that Red Bull regrets the decision it made.

“I know that deep down they are very sorry, I know that from a very good source,” added the former McLaren and Force India driver.

“People might think I’m happy about it, but no… we had a great team, and in the end it fell apart, little by little.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing, on stage

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

In the Mexican’s opinion, Red Bull began to lose its way with the departure of designer Adrian Newey, who is now at Aston Martin, which also had an impact on the development of the car and its particular performance.

“We didn’t dominate in an era like Mercedes, which had an advantage with the engine,” the six-time grand prix winner said. 

“Here, the advantage was very small, and we had a great team. When Adrian Newey left, I think that’s when a lot more problems started. Then Jonathan Wheatley [former sporting director] left, who was a fundamental part of the team.”