Sergio Perez’s time at Red Bull wrapped up after the 2024 F1 season, and honestly, it wasn’t pretty. His performance kept sliding, and by the end, everyone saw it coming.

Looking back, Perez didn’t hold back about his years with Red Bull. He talked about the constant criticism and summed it up with, “Everything was a problem.”

He first joined Red Bull in 2021, stepping in for Alex Albon. Four seasons later, he and the team went their separate ways. But he’s not done with F1 just yet—he’s signed a multi-year deal with Cadillac, teaming up with Valtteri Bottas this season. It’s a fresh start, and for Perez, probably a shot to end his career on a high note after hitting rock bottom at Red Bull.

It wasn’t always this rough, though. When he first joined, he actually impressed people by keeping up with Max Verstappen—sometimes even beating him. In 2023, Perez finished second behind Verstappen, giving Red Bull their first-ever one-two finish in the drivers’ standings.

But 2024 was a disaster. He started okay, but quickly lost pace, and the bad run just wouldn’t stop. Eventually, Red Bull decided they’d had enough.

Talking about his time at Red Bull on the Crack podcast, Perez said, “We had the best team. Everything just fell apart. Honestly, we could’ve dominated for a decade. But it all ended. Red Bull is the best team, but it’s complicated—being Max’s teammate is the toughest job in F1. It’s the best and worst seat, no question.”

He added, “People forget. When I first arrived and got results, everyone acted like it was no big deal. But it’s tough in that seat. I knew what I was walking into—I wasn’t there to beat one of the best.”

Like a lot of Verstappen’s teammates, Perez struggled to keep up. The real trouble started when the team rolled out upgrades designed for Verstappen’s style. Perez usually did best early in the year, when the car was heavier and felt more stable to him.

According to Perez, even when he did outpace Verstappen, it just made things worse. “Everything was a problem. If I were fast, it was a problem. If I were slower than Max, that was a problem too. Everything turned into an issue.”

He didn’t just complain, though. Perez said he learned to stop griping and just make the best of a tough situation—because, honestly, that’s all you really can do in his shoes.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren’s young driver, let slip that he, George Russell, and Alex Albon got pretty competitive with an “UNO World Championship” during their travel days between races in the 2025 Formula 1 season. Apparently, there was a lot of bending the rules—mostly thanks to George. Oscar laughed about it, admitting he’d never heard of half the rules George tried to use. “Family rules, apparently,” he joked.

During an interview on F1’s Off The Grid with Lawrence Barretto, Oscar talked about how those long-haul flights between races can get a bit weird. Sometimes you sleep, sometimes you just chat, but in this case, UNO took over. The game started as a way to kill time on the flight from Baku to Singapore, but it quickly turned into a full-blown championship.

Barretto asked if George’s rules gave him an unfair advantage. Oscar just grinned and nodded—of course they did. “We’re always competitive, all of us. It’s just how we are. But it’s always a good laugh.”

Oscar’s been wired for competition since he was a kid. Before he even thought about Formula 1, he was racing RC cars, just like Lewis Hamilton once did. “I’ve always been competitive. Started with RC cars, won a national championship at nine, then moved on to karting a year later,” he said.

These days, like a lot of drivers, Oscar lives in Monaco. Not just for the glam—though that helps—but because it’s actually practical for getting to races and hanging out with the other drivers. “It’s handy if you want to play padel or just do something different,” he said. “And yeah, it makes travelling to races a lot easier. We usually end up on the same flights anyway.”

After the races, Monaco offers a rare bit of downtime. “It’s nice to come back here when the racing’s over. It’s a bit more chilled out.”

Oscar’s career has taken off fast, and now he’s suddenly in the spotlight as a championship contender for 2025. The attention still throws him off sometimes. “It’s a bit strange,” he admitted. “At the track, you expect it. But sometimes you’re just in the supermarket, and someone comes up for a photo or an autograph, or even just to check if it’s actually you. It still feels weird.”

He’s hoping to keep the momentum going into 2026, building on everything he’s learned so far.