Checo Pérez about his return to F1: “I have nothing to try”
Sergio Pérez returned to F1 with Cadillac and analyzed what will be his first season with his new team.
After being appointed one of the two pilots of Cadillac By 2026, Sergio Pérez declared that “he could not afford” that his career in the Formula 1 will end with your dismissal Red Bull last year.
The 35 -year -old pilot was announced as half of the alignment of Cadillac pilots, together with Valtteri Bottasfor its debut season at F1 next year.
After a disappointing streak of results in 2024, Pérez was fired from Red Bull at the end of last season, despite having a two -year contract with the team.
His performance has been put in context by the difficulties of the two pilots who replaced him this year –Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda-, and Pérez said that for him it was important not to finish his career at such a low level.
“For me, it’s more about enjoying sport again,” Pérez said. “I want to enjoy the sport, the sport I love, the sport that has given me so much.
“I couldn’t afford to leave F1 as I did last year, you know? And that’s why I return with this new project. And yes, I hope it is very successful. But besides that, more than anything, I want to enjoy this return.”
Pérez only added 152 points, compared to the 437 of his partner Max Verstappen In 2024, but this year the second Red Bull has only added seven points in the first 14 races. When he was asked if he felt that Lawson’s difficulties, who only lasted two races as a substitute for Pérez, and Tsunoda, who has not reached the performance of Verstappen, meant that he had nothing to prove on his return, the Mexican added: “I feel that there is nothing to prove, not only by the current pilots or those who held my position, but even before, now they all forget it.
“But it has been a very complicated situation, having to adapt constantly, gain confidence; mentally it is a unique challenge. And yes, I do not think it has anything to demonstrate, you know, when you see the amount of points they have added, they are like five points throughout the season. So I think I have nothing to demonstrate in that sense.”
Cadillac joins the grill as the eleventh F1 team next year and has little time to prepare for his first race in Australia in March.
The team director, Graeme Lowdon, has subtracted importance to expectations before the arrival of the team to the grill, and Pérez said he did not get illusions about Cadillac’s potential in his first season.
“It is important to rethink my goals from the past,” added the six -time racing winner. “But I’m also here to progress with the team.
“I am sure that we will start in a very difficult position, but for me, the important thing is not where we start, but the speed with which we progress. That is the main thing.
“I know that pilots can despair. It is very easy to say it, but once you are on the grill for 24 races and struggles in the rear, despair can come. But for me, the main thing is to progress along with the team and enjoy the road, because at this point in my career, let’s say that one more trophy, one less, it is irrelevant. Week, I’ll be very happy, “Pérez said.
