Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez, Mexican driver of the new Cadillac Formula One team, said that being teammate of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is the worst job there is in the world’s premier motorsport category.
“I was in the best team, but it was a complicated team, because being Max’s teammate at Red Bull is the worst job there is in Formula One; I knew what I was facing, since that project is made for Max,” said ‘Checo’ through Cracks Podcast, a popular podcast, which is hosted by investor Oswaldo Trava.
Red Bull prioritized Verstappen
Checo Perez went into detail about how Christian Horner, former Red Bull director, made it clear to him the Austrian team’s priority for Verstappen.
“The first time I sit down with Christian he says, ‘We’re going to run two cars because we have to run two cars, but this project was created for Max, he’s our talent.'”
“At Red Bull everything was a problem, if I was faster than Max it was a problem, it created a very tense atmosphere if I was faster,” he explained.
Despite these problems, in the four years that Checo Pérez was at Red Bull, he obtained a second place in the drivers’ championship, a third place, a couple of fourth places and he left, in 2024, with an eighth place.
Reveals how he lost control of the Red Bull
Estaba en el mejor equipo, pero era un escudería complicada
Checo Pérez
The 35-year-old also revealed how he lost control of his car every time he was faster than Verstappen.
“In 2023, I start fighting for the championship with Max. He wins one race, I win one race, he wins one race, I win one race. We were very evenly matched.”
“When we got to Barcelona from fighting a second per lap I was already slower, that is, I was no longer in control of the car,” he stressed.
For the 2026 Formula One season, Checo Pérez will be one of the drivers of the Cadillac team, which will make its debut at the circuit, an experience for which he hopes to apply everything he has learned with Red Bull.
“I learned a lot at Red Bull. I learned to value myself in the circumstances I was in, to make the most of everything,” he concluded.
With information from EFE
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