5 Sergio Perez high points at Red Bull as the driver is fired from the team
Sergio Perez is not going to be a Red Bull driver anymore. The Mexican joined RBR in 2021 and has since been a part of the team that has won four drivers' and two constructors' championships. The driver's form started to take a dip in mid-2023 when he was unable to produce strong results in a car that was winning almost everything.
Things went further south with the 34-year-old in 2024, as he appeared to completely lose all confidence in the car and hence was nowhere compared to Max Verstappen. The Dutchman ended the 2024 F1 season a whopping 285 points ahead of his teammate, and the writing was always on the wall.
With that being said, Sergio Perez still had some very good races during his stint with the team, and there are days that he would remember fondly. In this feature, we'll take a look at the five high points of Perez's stint at Red Bull. So without further ado, let's get to it.
Sergio Perez's top moments at Red Bull
#1 2021 F1 Azerbaijan GP
Baku has been a happy hunting ground for Sergio Perez more often than not, and that has shown in how a lot of his high points in F1 and at Red Bull have been at the track. Probably the first major one was winning the race in 2021. The race often gets overshadowed in terms of storylines by what happened with Max Verstappen, who got a puncture late in the race, and then Lewis Hamilton's famous 'magic button' debacle.
With that being said, this was one of the better races from Perez in his first year with the team because it showed that the driver was first doing a brilliant job of being the no. 2 to Max Verstappen, and when the lead driver was not in the picture, he capitalized and won.
#2 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP
The "minister of defense" moniker is not given to everyone in F1, but it was certainly something that Sergio Perez earned during his first year with Red Bull. The biggest example of this was the last race of the season, in which Perez played a role in helping his teammate Max Verstappen. The Mexican was leading the Abu Dhabi GP as he was yet to make his pit stop.
He was followed by Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who had both made their respective pitstops and hence were on much fresher tires. When Hamilton reached Perez and was about to overtake him, the gap between him and Verstappen was close to eight seconds. The fact that by the time Lewis finally got ahead of Perez, the gap was down to one second showed the remarkable defensive tactics that the Mexican used.
To this day, Max Verstappen commends Perez for the helping hand he had in 2021.
#3 2022 F1 Monaco GP
If you're in a four-way battle to fight for the win on a wet track in Monaco and two of the drivers in that battle are Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, then the fact that you win is remarkable. This was precisely what Sergio Perez was able to accomplish at the track in 2022.
He showed great precision and judgment in the changeable conditions, and the fact that Verstappen was behind him on the track also ended up playing in his favor in the end. With that being said, the fact that it was Sergio Perez who came out on top in this situation was an interesting development, and it showed that in the right car, the driver can get the job done.
#4 2022 F1 Singapore GP
During his partnership with Verstappen, there weren't many races where Sergio Perez had the opportunity to be the lead Red Bull. The 2022 F1 Singapore GP was one such race, as the Dutch driver had a strategic debacle in qualifying that meant he was more or less out of contention for the win.
The onus for the win came down to Perez as he made it work from the very beginning of the race. The Mexican jumped Charles Leclerc at the start to take the lead, and from that point onwards it was all about race management and keeping the tires in perfect condition in the wet weather. Sergio nailed it and got the job done for Red Bull and won what was one of the more impressive wins of his career.
#5 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP
It's not easy to beat Max Verstappen in general. It's even harder to beat him when you're in the same car as him. Well, that was exactly what Sergio Perez went on to achieve in the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP, where he took on his illustrious teammate and beat him.
Baku has always had a special place in the heart of the Mexican, especially since the track has just worked for him since it first made it to the calendar. This was precisely what stood out when he was involved in a straight battle with Verstappen. He ended up beating his teammate comfortably, and to date this is his best F1 career race win.