Sergio Perez has revealed that former Purple Bull staff principal Christian Horner bluntly knowledgeable him upon becoming a member of the staff that they solely ran a second automobile “as a result of they need to”, admitting they might have been content material racing solely with Max Verstappen.
Throughout an look on the Excessive Efficiency podcast, the Mexican driver make clear the fact he confronted when getting into the Milton Keynes outfit in 2021. Perez, who has since joined Cadillac, defined that Purple Bull’s complete infrastructure and growth path had been tailor-made round his four-time champion team-mate.
“The primary time I met Christian, he informed me, ‘We go racing with two vehicles as a result of we’ve got to, in any other case we might be tremendous completely satisfied simply to race with one automobile,'” Perez defined. “‘All the pieces is for Max, round Max. We need to win the championship.’
“So it is why I mentioned [to myself], look, I come right here, and I profit from it in all regards. And it is what I did. I went there with the instruments accessible, that I needed to my expense. I feel I overdelivered in all areas over there. It labored out completely.
“In fact, there have been some very powerful instances, very powerful durations in the direction of the tip as nicely. The stress and everybody internally… We had an excessive amount of success. So individuals obtained bored, I feel, they usually had been preventing one another and all of the drama across the finish, however they had been 4 improbable years.
“I overdelivered, and solely as soon as I left they usually introduced in all the opposite drivers did they realise the job that I’ve accomplished for them over 4 years.”
Whereas he confirmed that Horner and motorsport adviser Helmut Marko had been genuinely completely satisfied when he received races, Perez added that the precedence by no means modified. He defined that the hole between him and his team-mate on the time solely widened when technical upgrades had been launched.
Christian Horner, Purple Bull Racing
Picture by: Purple Bull Content material Pool
The 36-year-old in the end left Purple Bull on the finish of 2024 after 4 seasons with the staff. He took a 12 months out from racing and has since returned with Cadillac in 2026.
Following Perez’s exit from the Austrian staff, Verstappen has had three totally different team-mates in Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda and now Isack Hadjar.
When requested whether or not he thought that Purple Bull might have received the constructors’ championship in 2025 if he had remained on the staff, Perez added: “Properly, you by no means know. You do not know, however for me on a private stage, I am nonetheless massive pals with everybody at Purple Bull, everybody at Aston Martin.
“That is additionally crucial. I saved my credibility and my gratitude to all of them. Purple Bull remodeled my profession. Aston Martin/Racing Level gave me an enormous alternative. So on the finish of the day, it is a enterprise and you must play it.”
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