Pérez: Being Verstappen’s teammate, “the worst job” in F1

Sergio Pérez: “Being Verstappen’s teammate is the worst job in Formula 1”

Sergio “Checo” Pérez has openly expressed his experience as Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull Racing, calling it “the worst job in Formula 1.” Pérez shared this perspective after leaving Red Bull at the end of 2024, despite having two years remaining on his contract. The Mexican driver is now preparing to return to F1 with the Cadillac team.

I was on the best team, but it was complicated because being Max’s teammate at Red Bull is the worst job in F1. I knew what I was getting into.

Sergio Pérez

In an interview on a podcast with Oswaldo Trava, Pérez detailed the pressures and challenges he faced during his time alongside Verstappen. Pérez recounted how at Red Bull, any scenario involving his performance was problematic. “If I was faster than Max, it was a problem, a very tense atmosphere was created; it was a problem if you were faster than Max. If you were too slow and Max was too, then everything was a problem.”

Pérez’s best season was in 2023, where he finished as Verstappen’s runner-up. However, in 2024, Verstappen won the championship again, while Pérez finished in eighth place, leading to his departure from Red Bull.

We had the best team, unfortunately everything was destroyed. We had the team to have dominated the sport for the next 10 years, I believe, and unfortunately it all ended.

Sergio Pérez

Pérez will now join Valtteri Bottas at Cadillac. With a career in F1 since 2011, Pérez achieved his greatest successes at Red Bull, including a fourth place in 2021, a third in 2022, and second place in 2023. He did not compete last year.