Sergio Perez lost his seat with Red Bull at the end of a disastrous 2024 for the Mexican but his two replacements, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, have both failed to challenge Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen held a grudge against Sergio Perez(Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Sergio Perez has confirmed why Max Verstappen held a grudge against him at Red Bull, who he claims regret dropping him from their driver line-up. Perez, 35, has been out of Formula 1 this season after the Milton Keynes-based outfit axed him in December.

The Mexican’s dire season saw him finish eighth in the Drivers’ Championship, scoring just 152 points. Team-mate Verstappen nearly tripled that amount in the same car, winning his fourth successive world title.

Perez’s woes also saw Red Bull surrender their Constructors’ Championship to McLaren, prompting team principal Christian Horner to make a change. That was despite Horner handing the six-time race winner a new two-year contract mid-season.

Red Bull promoted Liam Lawson from their junior team, Racing Bulls, but the Kiwi lasted just two race weekends, failing to live up to even the most modest expectations. Lawson was ruthlessly replaced by former team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who’s also struggled and remains way off Verstappen.

Perez was rarely a credible threat to Verstappen, although they had their fair share of skirmishes. The pair’s most talked-about clash came at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2022, as Perez let Verstappen – Red Bull’s No.1 driver – past him for track position.

When Verstappen didn’t manage to get up the pecking order, the Dutchman was told by his team to give the position back. Verstappen refused, claiming over their team radio that he had ‘his reasons’, as Perez was left frustrated and bemoaned that it ‘showed what kind of person’ Verstappen was.

It turned out that Verstappen was holding onto a grudge from much earlier in the season, as Perez’s crash in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix ended the third and final session early, and left the future four-time world champion unable to improve on his time. Perez went on to win the race, with Verstappen third.

When asked on the Desde el Paddock podcast about his relationship with Verstappen, Perez replied: “That’s something I’m saving for my book – I’ll give you the full story there.”

The 35-year-old did touch on the Brazil incident, though, explaining: “Max had an issue with what happened in Monaco. He never told me directly, he kept it to himself and brought it up six or eight months later.

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen now have a ‘great relationship'(Image: Jayce Illman/Getty Images)

“At the time, we talked about it and cleared everything up. He had something on his mind from qualifying in Monaco. We talked about it at the next race in Baku and it was all settled. But Max is like that; he holds things in until he finally lets them out, usually on the track.”

Verstappen insists that he has a ‘great relationship’ with his ex-team-mate, saying last weekend: “We were great team-mates and so I have a lot of respect for him, he has a lot of respect for me, and that is it from my side. I am looking forward to hopefully seeing him again in the paddock soon, and I still need to give him a helmet of mine.

“I promised him that because he gave me one of his with a very nice message on it, and I promised him that hopefully, around Mexico, I can give him one of mine. So for me, whatever is written in the media, I know how Checo is and we have a great relationship.”

As for the current state of Red Bull, Perez claimed while on the same podcast: “Deep down, they are very sorry (for sacking him) and I know this from a very good source.”

Perez has suggested that he doesn’t get enough credit for his largely steady stint with Red Bull which began in 2021. He recently liked an Instagram post comparing his worst form at Red Bull to Lawson and Tsunoda’s recent difficulties.

We could see Perez back on the grid next season, as he’s been linked with new team Cadillac. Team principal Graeme Lowdon insists that no decisions on their driver line-up have been made, although he’s hinted that they’ll favour ‘experience’.

“I think there’s a very strong argument to say that a new team in its first year of racing would benefit hugely from people who are experienced,” Lowdon said.