Perez turned down offers from two teams to stay at Red Bull!
Sergio Perez has revealed that he turned down two concrete offers from other Formula 1 teams to stay at the team, despite his future at Red Bull remaining uncertain.
The 2024 season has been a difficult one for Perez, who has struggled to match the pace and performance of teammate Max Verstappen.
Despite a solid start to the year, the Mexican’s declining form has seen Red Bull drop from a comfortable lead in the constructors’ standings to third, behind McLaren and Ferrari.
Perez told GQ in a candid interview that he had opportunities to move to other teams, but preferred the challenge of Red Bull:
“I had one, maybe two, opportunities to change teams,”
“When I looked at it, I thought I really liked the challenge I had at Red Bull. Being Max’s teammate is a big challenge that prepares you for everything.”
“I said I wanted to spend the last part of my career at the top, where the pressure is the most intense.”
Perez acknowledged that the performance culture at Red Bull puts intense pressure on drivers, saying it was “part of the game”.
“It’s part of the sport. You have a bad race or two, there’s a lot of negative talk about you and it goes on and on.”
“But it’s also in the Red Bull team culture. The conversations, the contract negotiations, etc. … It’s just part of the game.”
Although he has not finished on the podium since his third place at the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix and has not won a race since last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Perez still feels grateful for his achievements.
“When you go through a difficult time, there is a lot of talk about you,” the Mexican pilot said.
“But in the end, there is 90% of the grid that would love to have my career.”
“When you are a driver you only think about the next race, the next fight, the next category, the next contract. Always the next, the next, the next….”
“Sometimes it’s good to take a step back and remember how much progress you’ve made, because F1 is such a brutal sport,” he added.
For now, Perez remains committed to the tough challenge at Red Bull and wants to take advantage of the opportunity to race at the highest level until the end of his career.
