Perez, accusations against Red Bull
For four seasons Sergio Perez has held one of the most difficult roles in modern Formula 1: being Max Verstappen‘s teammate at Red Bull. The Dutchman’s strength was not the only difficulty encountered by the current Cadillac driver. In fact, perhaps it wasn’t even the biggest obstacle. To complicate Checo‘s task, there was a team united around the figure of the Dutchman, who would have done anything for him.
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From day one at Red Bull, Perez understood that he would always be the second choice, despite some bold statements at the beginning of 2021, just after being signed by Christian Horner and Helmut Marko from Racing Point. However, he didn’t even expect to be left alone by those who had chosen him.
Perez’s words
“In Red Bull I was completely alone, you couldn’t do much with a system that destroyed you. That’s just how it was,” he commented on the podcast High Performance. “I felt supported up to a certain point: Christian and Helmut were happy if I won a race, but in the end they told me that the entire project was centered on Max. For me it was clear, and I accepted it, trying to make the most of it”
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“There were years when I thought we were on par, and that I could really give him a hard time. But then, as soon as the updates arrived, the gap increased significantly,” he added. “They knew what it meant to be a second driver for Red Bull, and they knew that whoever they brought in would be out of the game in two or three races. You have to have the character to be able to cope with all of this. And when they brought in the youngsters, Lawson lasted two races and then they promoted Tsunoda; they realized the work I had done in those four years.”
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