Perez reveals Red Bull pushed him to seek psychologist as Verstappen pressure mounted

Sergio Perez has revealed that Red Bull repeatedly told him his on-track struggles were rooted in psychological problems, pushing him to consult a psychologist during his turbulent four-year stint alongside Max Verstappen at the Milton Keynes outfit.

Speaking on the High Performance podcast, the Mexican driver — who returned to the Formula 1 grid with Cadillac in 2026 after a year away from the championship — offered his most candid account yet of what it meant to occupy the unforgiving second seat in a team built entirely around its lead driver.

“I sought outside help because they pushed me for it,” Perez said. “At Red Bull, it was funny; every time you didn’t deliver, there were some mental issues. So, I thought I was open to trying anything.” He added that he agreed to the sessions partly as a show of good faith: “I did it because I felt like it would show the right attitude for the team and that I was willing to do anything to overcome these issues.”

Perez, who raced for Red Bull from 2021 through to the end of 2024, described an environment in which the structural and political weight of the team sat squarely on Verstappen’s shoulders — leaving little room for his team-mate to push back. “You cannot over-push the system too much because they just break you,” he said. “I was completely on my own at Red Bull in terms of management. I felt there was not much we could do with the system.”

On the question of support from team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko, Perez was measured rather than bitter. “I felt supported to a certain point. The team was behind me, and Christian and Helmut would be happy if I won a race and so on. But at the end of the day, they would tell me the whole project is done for our driver, and our driver is Max. So, for me, it was clear, and I accepted that.”

Perez credited the resilience he had built over a long career for allowing him to endure the arrangement as long as he did. “The only reason I survived there for so long was, first of all, how I built my character,” he said. “I think you have to accept what position you are in.”

The disclosures add significant context to a partnership that produced two constructors’ championships but grew increasingly strained as Verstappen’s dominance widened and Perez’s results declined sharply in the second half of 2024.