Perez Calls Being Verstappen's Teammate 'The Worst Job in F1'

Ahead of his 2026 return with Cadillac, Sergio Perez has delivered a scathing assessment of his four seasons at Red Bull, branding the role of Max Verstappen's teammate "the worst job in F1, by far." He described an impossible, high-pressure environment where he was criticized whether faster or slower than his championship-winning teammate, ultimately feeling the team's development and focus were solely directed at Verstappen.

Why it matters:

Perez's candid comments provide a rare, unfiltered look inside the notoriously private Red Bull team during its period of dominance. His allegations of a toxic, no-win environment for the second driver shed light on the immense psychological pressures in F1 and suggest the team's internal dynamics were more fragile than their on-track success indicated, potentially contributing to their recent performance struggles.

The details:

• A No-Win Scenario: Perez explained the impossible position he was in. "If I was faster than Max, it created a very tense atmosphere; it was a problem if you were faster than Max," he said. "Conversely, if you were too slow and Max was slow, then everything was also a problem."
• Psychological Pressure: Early in his tenure after a run of poor results, Perez claimed the team pushed him towards a psychologist. He recounted a bizarre incident where he was presented with a £6,000 bill for a single phone call with the psychologist, which he was told to send to Helmut Marko.
• Development Favoritism: The Mexican driver stated that as the car evolved, particularly in the ground-effect era, it was increasingly tailored to Verstappen's style. "The upgrades continued, but everything was for Max," Perez claimed, leaving him perpetually on the back foot.
• A Regretful End: Despite the bitter exit, Perez expressed regret over how the team imploded, believing they had the potential to "dominate the sport for the next 10 years" but that "unfortunately, everything was destroyed."

Looking Ahead:

Now with a fresh start on the horizon with Cadillac in 2026, Perez is free from the Red Bull environment he criticized. His revelations will undoubtedly add a new layer of context to Red Bull's recent history and fuel ongoing scrutiny of their team culture and driver management philosophy as they work to return to the front of the grid.