MEXICO CITY (AP) — Sergio “Checo” Pérez says being a teammate of Max Verstappen was “the worst job there is in Formula 1.”

Pérez was beside Verstappen for four years at Red Bull before being dropped at the end of 2024 with two years left in his contract. Pérez is returning to F1 this year with new team Cadillac.

“I was on the best team but it was complicated because being Max’s teammate at Red Bull is the worst job there is in F1. I knew what I was up against,” Pérez told a podcast with Oswaldo Trava that was posted on YouTube on Sunday.

“At Red Bull everything was a problem; if I was faster than Max it was a problem, a very tense atmosphere was created; it was a problem if you were faster than Max,” Pérez said. “If you were too slow and Max was slow then everything was a problem.”

Pérez’s best season was 2023 when he was runner-up to Verstappen. Verstappen won the championship again in 2024 but Pérez finished eighth and was released by Red Bull.

“We had the best team, unfortunately everything was destroyed,” Pérez said. “We had the team to have dominated the sport for the next 10 years, I think, and unfortunately it all ended.”

He will partner at Cadillac with Valtteri Bottas.

Pérez has been racing in F1 since 2011 and had his greatest success at Red Bull, including fourth in 2021, third in 2022 and second in 2023. He didn’t race last year.

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