26/08/2025 17:30
Sergio Perez has insisted his time away from Formula 1 this year
was vital to "disconnect" after how his career with Red Bull came
to an end last year. Perez endured a catastrophic period with Red
Bull last season, scoring a wretched 49 points over the final 18
grands prix that cost Red Bull its hold on the constructors'
championship it had won for the previous two seasons. The Mexican
driver was unable to dial into a car predominantly designed around
team-mate Max Verstappen, exhausting avenues with set-ups,
directional changes, and switches in components to try and get him
comfortable. In two years, Perez had gone from finishing second in
the drivers' standings - albeit a distant one to Verstappen - to an
also-ran, forcing the hand of then team principal Christian Horner
and advisor Helmut Marko to release him after the season had
concluded. After a period of contemplation, with little seen or
heard about Perez over the past eight months, he is now back in F1
as part of a highly experienced driver pairing at Cadillac with
Valtteri Bottas. Reflecting on this year, after being asked by
RacingNews365 in a selected media session after confirmation of the
driver line-up, Perez said: "For me, it was very important to have
this time away from the sport, especially because it only became
clear towards the end of last year that I was not going to continue
with Red Bull. "So instead of jumping into something, just for
staying on the grid, I needed that time to disconnect myself from
the sport and to understand what I really wanted next in my career.
"It wasn't very clear for me in the beginning, especially the first
couple of months, what I wanted to do next. "But the more I talked
to the Cadillac team, the more it became apparent that this is what
excited me to come back. It's a project. It's just not going back
to the grid with a regular team to fight for podiums and points.
This is a whole project. "The dynamic, I feel, is different."
Unlike Bottas, who has kept himself firmly in the F1 spotlight with
a third and reserve driver role with Mercedes, and who has stayed
sharp by driving F1 machinery this year, Perez recognises he needs
to get up to speed again. The 35-year-old, though, has no qualms he
will be fit, ready and able by the time the season starts in
Australia next year in the first week of March. "I realised that I
enjoyed training," said Perez, who has not been totally idle this
year. "I always thought I hated it, but this time that I had off,
it made me realise that I really enjoy training, so I've been
staying fit. "Obviously, I haven't driven anything for a while,
other than karting with my son, but there are some plans with the
team to test a Formula 1 car before the end of the year.
"Obviously, next year, with so much testing that we're going to
have, it's going to make that dust go away extremely quickly. "I
know what Formula 1 is about, and I will be ready to deliver from
the first race onwards."
