Sergio Perez reveals Christian Horner told him Red Bull was ‘all about Max’

• Sergio Perez has revealed Christian Horner told him before joining Red Bull that the team was built entirely around Max Verstappen and that he understood he would play a supporting role.
• Despite accepting his position from the outset, Perez believes racing alongside Verstappen at Red Bull was Formula 1’s toughest challenge, with upgrades and resources consistently favouring the Dutchman.
• Perez says his resilience helped him survive four seasons at Red Bull before joining Cadillac, where he is now beginning a new chapter alongside Valtteri Bottas.

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Sergio Perez has publicly revealed his first conversation with former Red Bull team boss Christian Horner ahead of joining the world championship-winning outfit in 2021, explaining how it was made clear from the outset that he would be playing second fiddle to Max Verstappen.

The 36-year-old Perez spent four seasons at Red Bull alongside Verstappen during the Dutchman’s run of four consecutive world championships between 2021 and 2024. He claimed five grands prix victories, 26 podiums and a career-best second place in the 2023 drivers’ standings.

Now driving for F1 newcomers Cadillac after spending a year out of the sport following an acrimonious split with Red Bull despite being contracted beyond 2024, Perez says he was under no illusions about what he was signing up for.

“I knew I was going to Red Bull, into a project that had been built around Max over the years. When they signed me, it was very clear. I knew what I’d signed up for,” the Mexican said on the High Performance podcast.

“Yeah, the first time I met Christian, he told me, ‘We go racing with two cars because we have to, you know. Otherwise, we’d be super happy just to race with one car. Everything is for Max, around Max. We want to win the championship.'”

Despite clearly being cast as a supporting act to Verstappen, and despite the acrimonious nature of his departure, Perez reflected positively on his time at Red Bull overall.

“It was great. I would say it was fantastic,” he added.

Reflecting on the challenge of racing alongside Verstappen, Perez again reiterated the immense difficulty of the task, believing it is perhaps the toughest challenge in Formula 1.

“To face Max at Red Bull is the toughest challenge. I mean, even to face Max at any other team would be very tough,” the Mexican said.

“But to face him at Red Bull, with his team, his people, his surroundings, it’s tough, and you need the best of the best in every area, and you just don’t have that, you know.

“While he has all the opportunities in terms of engineering, senior engineers, experienced engineers, everything goes to Max.

“But I knew that before I came, so I thought, ‘Look, I can either complain or get on with what I have’, and that’s what I did.

“The four years I was there, I kept the same engineering team. That’s something I feel extremely proud of.

“There were years where I thought we are on a par, I can really give a fight – but then as soon as there were upgrades, the difference would increase quite a bit.”

Speaking about the pressure-cooker environment synonymous with Red Bull, which before Perez had seen the likes of Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon churned through the second seat, the Mexican said: “I think the only reason I survived there for so long is because, first of all, how I built my character. So for me it was like peanuts,”

“Being in that position and accepting it… I think you have to accept in which position you are, and you cannot overpush the system too much because they just break you. Also I was completely on my own at Red Bull.

“In terms of management, I felt like there was not much we could do with the system. This is what you get given and this is it.”

Now 36, Perez is spearheading the new Cadillac outfit alongside fellow Formula 1 veteran Valtteri Bottas. His best result so far has been a 14th-place finish at the most recent British Grand Prix.

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Written by

Jawad Yaqub

An eCommerce Specialist by day and reporting on F1 by night. Jawad is passionate about motorsport, having provided accredited F1 coverage for more than a decade and is a member of the AIPS (International Sports Press Association). Live blogging (almost) every grand prix too since 2014, as well as articles on the Supercars Championship. Also keen on sustainability, photography, collecting vinyl, (trying to) expertly barbeque and learning to Dad.

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