The 2024 season would become Sergio Perez’s last in Formula 1 after a dramatic turn in form in which the Mexican failed to finish in the points for four of the final five races.
This severely impacted Red Bull’s chances of retaining their Constructors’ title crown, with Perez dropping back to eighth in the Drivers’ Championship.
The turning point for Red Bull came in Azerbaijan, a circuit Perez usually excels at, when the Mexican was on course for a podium but crashed into Carlos Sainz in the final laps.
Red Bull lost its lead in the Constructors’ Championship, ending their three-year reign as McLaren won it for the first time since 1998. The blame was laid on Perez and following a difficult last few races for Red Bull, he was duly sacked for the 2025 season in favour of Liam Lawson.
Perez’s former engineer at Sauber, Marco Schupbach, discussed how the Mexican’s partnership with Verstappen ultimately impacted his chances of staying in F1 in an interview with Pit Debrief.
Sergio Perez’s ex-engineer believes ‘reputation suffered’ too much the last two years of F1 career
Perez was seen as the best option when he joined Red Bull in 2021 to partner Verstappen, after he managed to put Racing Point on the top step in Bahrain in 2020.
The Mexican had already raced for Christian Horner’s team Arden in GP2 (now Formula 2) and showed promise early on in his career at Sauber. His period at Red Bull would ultimately end the same as McLaren, with him leaving the team before seeing out his full contract length.
There might be a chance for Perez to join the upcoming Cadillac team, but his former engineer believes that going up against Verstappen and not beating him has severely hurt his chances of making an F1 comeback.
“He would, should the opportunity arise [to return to F1], surely not be the worst driver on the grid,” said Schupbach.
“However, he had a fantastic career, and to me it’s a bit sad to see that his reputation suffered so much in the last two years of his career against one of the all-time greats [in Max Verstappen].
“People need to understand how good he was with us [Sauber] and the team [Force India/Racing Point] formerly known as Jordan.”
Drive to Survive reveals what Christian Horner said after Sergio Perez crash
The Netflix series Drive to Survive often picks up candid moments during a season, and one of which was Horner’s reaction to Perez’s crash at the British Grand Prix.
The Mexican was trying to qualify for the race when he spun off in the damp conditions, forcing him to retire from the session.
READ MORE: The one-word statement Sergio Perez made in September that has now backfired horribly
Horner was apoplectic over the crash, saying to Red Bull personnel: “If we keep going like this, we’re f——. I just don’t get it with Checo.”
Perez would endure a difficult Sunday while Verstappen challenged for the win, only to miss out in the final laps.
Leave feedback about this