Perez Reveals How a Baku Crash Sealed His Red Bull Fate

Sergio Perez has revealed a pivotal moment from his final season with Red Bull, claiming a specific car update in Baku could have fundamentally altered his trajectory with the team. After a late-race collision destroyed the car, he never received the part again as team development fully pivoted to his teammate, Max Verstappen, accelerating his departure from the squad.

Why it matters:

Perez's anecdote shines a light on the internal dynamics and perceived driver hierarchy at a top Formula 1 team. It illustrates how a single incident can have a butterfly effect, not just on a race weekend but on a driver's entire career, providing a compelling explanation for his dramatic performance collapse in the latter half of the 2024 season.

The details:

• The Baku Breakthrough: Perez stated that for the Baku Grand Prix, the team fitted his car with a new floor—an update originally requested and developed for Verstappen. The impact was immediate and significant.
  • "In practice at Baku I was a second quicker than everyone else once I had that floor," Perez explained. He was confident he was on course for victory before his crash with Carlos Sainz on the final lap.
• The Point of No Return: The collision destroyed the chassis, and due to a tight schedule and a shift in development priorities, Perez never raced with that specific floor again.
  • "From that point on everything was focused on Max," he said. "I was already two, three, four, five races behind, and I never had that car again."
• A Costly Anecdote: In a separate story from his time at Red Bull, Perez recounted being advised to see a psychologist early in his tenure. When presented with a £6,000 bill, he instructed the team to send it to advisor Helmut Marko, who ultimately paid for it.

The big picture:

This Baku incident serves as a microcosm of Perez's challenging Red Bull career, marked by moments of brilliance overshadowed by misfortune and a team structure built around Verstappen. His 2024 season ended with a stark 152 points to Verstappen's 437, a gap that this story suggests was widened by a crucial loss of competitive equipment. Reflecting on the missed opportunity, Perez remained philosophical: "What would have happened? Who knows. But I also believe things happen for a reason."