Sergio Perez's Explosive Revelations About Red Bull's Verstappen Obsession and How It Backfired in 2026

The Worst Job in Formula One

Perez did not mince words when describing what it was actually like inside the team. "Being Max's teammate at Red Bull is the worst job there is in F1, by far," he said . The problem was structural and impossible to navigate.

"At Red Bull, everything was a problem," Perez explained in his January 2026 interview . He described a Catch-22: if he was faster than Verstappen, it created "a very tense atmosphere" and became a problem . If he was slower, that too was a problem . "If you were too slow and Max was slow, then everything was also a problem" . Whether outperforming or underperforming the lead driver, the second driver faced scrutiny from every direction .

Perez said the team "complained about everything" and that every performance became a double-edged sword . This created an environment where he felt he could not win: lag behind and you are dropped; beat Verstappen and the machinery turns against you.

A Car Designed for One Driving Style

Beyond the cultural dynamics, Perez revealed that Red Bull's technical approach compounded the problem. The team tailors its cars specifically to Verstappen's unique driving preferences, a factor Perez argued would make even seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton struggle in that seat .

"Being next to Max is very difficult, but being next to Max in Red Bull is something people don't understand," Perez said in October 2025, before his Cadillac comeback was even announced . "There are so many things I cannot talk about. But the minute I signed my exit from Red Bull, when we came to an agreement, I knew 'poor guy, who comes here, it's a very difficult place'" .

A Decade of Singular Focus Backfires

The 2026 season introduced a major technical reset in Formula One: smaller, lighter cars with a near-50:50 split between internal combustion and electric power in the hybrid engines . For Red Bull, the results have been catastrophic.

After three races, the team sat sixth in the Constructors' Championship with just 12 points from the opening two race weekends . The RB22 was roughly one second off the pace of leaders Mercedes and Ferrari . Verstappen described the car as "totally undriveable" at the Chinese Grand Prix, saying "every lap feels like a fight for survival" . He failed to score a point in that main race and retired with a coolant leak on lap 45 . Team principal Laurent Mekies admitted the car showed "significant shortcomings" .

Verstappen finished a distant eighth in Japan, 32 seconds behind race winner Kimi Antonelli, unable to pass the Alpine of Pierre Gasly all afternoon . Rookie Isack Hadjar was the team's only bright spot, qualifying third in Australia but retiring from that race with an engine problem .

The thread connecting Perez's revelations to Red Bull's 2026 struggles is hard to ignore. Years of building everything around one driver's preferences made the team deeply specialized. Under radically different regulations, that specialization became a vulnerability. The car so finely tuned to Verstappen's style under the old rules has proven uncompetitive in the new era .

Perez's Fresh Start at Cadillac

After spending 2025 on the sidelines, Perez was signed alongside Valtteri Bottas in August 2025 to lead the brand-new Cadillac Formula One team's debut campaign . The contrast with his Red Bull experience could not be sharper.

"I feel much more appreciated at Cadillac than I ever did at Red Bull," Perez said ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix . He described his new role as a "new beginning" where he could race without the structural disadvantages he faced before . Team principal Graeme Lowdon said Perez was "re-entering Formula 1 with exactly the right attitude" . Perez himself said Cadillac "rekindled my love for F1" and that he was "full of energy to re-engage" .

Max Verstappen even publicly welcomed Perez's return, calling it a "new beginning" for his former teammate .

As a brand-new 11th team, Cadillac is still finding its feet. The team sits 11th in the standings with 0 points as of mid-season, but has already exceeded early external expectations . Perez has said he is confident in the team's trajectory .

The Broader Irony

The team that spent a decade designing itself around one driver is now lost with that same driver in an uncompetitive car. Meanwhile, the driver who was marginalized in that system is helping build a new team from scratch—one where, for the first time in years, he is an equal partner rather than a subordinate.

Perez's revelations have also validated a pattern F1 fans had long suspected. Red Bull has cycled through a series of second drivers—Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and Perez himself, among others—each of whom initially showed promise before struggling or being replaced. Perez's account of a culture where the second driver was set up to fail provides the most complete explanation yet for that ongoing pattern .

In short: Perez revealed a Red Bull culture of total Verstappen-centricity that was clear from his very first meeting with Horner, obsessive in its focus, and destructive to the second driver. That same singular focus left the team structurally brittle heading into the 2026 regulation change, contributing to a disastrous start to the season. Perez, now at Cadillac, has found a role where he is a valued co-lead rather than a sacrificed number two.