Sergio Perez: Being Max Verstappen's F1 team-mate is 'the worst job'

Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Netherlands, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull Crisis

Sergio Perez: Being Max Verstappen's team-mate is 'the worst job in F1'

Perez will not be returning to the role of Verstappen's team-mate in 2026

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Friday 9 January 2026 21:13

Axed Red Bull star Sergio Perez has given a painfully honest verdict on what it is really like to be Max Verstappen's F1 team-mate.

The Mexican driver raced alongside the Dutchman for four consecutive seasons between 2021 and 2024, helping Red Bull to pick up the constructors' championship in two of those campaigns.

The duo worked well for the most part— Perez was comfortable as Verstappen's No.2 and rarely got in his way on track.

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This understanding between the driver duo allowed Verstappen to claim four drivers' titles of his own, but in 2024, Perez's place at the team began to look a little less stable.

After only contributing 152 points to Red Bull's tally of 589 that year, the energy drink giants opted to sack him ahead of 2025, leaving Perez without a full-time seat.

But the 35-year-old is back and will return to the grid in 2026, this time to race against Verstappen has he tries his hand with new squad Cadillac.

Perez reflects on how 'everything was destroyed' at Red Bull

In a recent appearance on the Cracks Podcast, Perez didn't hold back when discussing his view of the second Red Bull seat which many drivers have tried and failed to conquer since his exit.

Reflecting on the highs and lows he experienced during his time at Red Bull, Perez said: "Of all the ups and downs, I knew that in Formula 1 you're up and then you're down, just like in life, right? So, I knew that everything was temporary. We had the best team. Unfortunately, everything was destroyed.

"We had the team to dominate the sport for the next 10 years, I think. And unfortunately, it's all over now, but I was in the best team, in a complicated team."

Expanding on his definition of complicated, Perez then claimed that playing second fiddle to Verstappen could, at times, be the worst job in the sport.

"Just being Max's team-mate is very difficult, but being Max's team-mate at Red Bull is the best and the worst job there is in Formula 1, by far," said Perez.

"And well, everyone forgot, didn't they? When I arrived at Red Bull, I started getting results, and everyone forgot how difficult it was to be in that seat, right? And I was very aware of what I was getting into."

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F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Sergio Perez