Putting in his first laps in a Formula 1 car in 11 months, Sergio Perez admits \u201ca bit of demotivation\u201d blighted his final six months with Red Bull Racing before his year-long hiatus.<\/p>\n
The six-time grand prix winner will return to the Formula 1 grid next season having signed with the sport\u2019s brand new 11th team, Cadillac.<\/p>\n
Sergio Perez breaks silence after Cadillac\u2019s Ferrari test<\/p>\n
Perez<\/a> has a strange tale to tell in Formula 1 as, saved by Red Bull in 2021 after he was dropped by Racing Point, he took pole positions, won grands prix and finished runner-up in the Drivers\u2019 standings and yet he was dogged by rumours that his days with Red Bull were numbered.<\/p>\n Those rumours hit high gear in 2023 when Perez, despite being in the running for second place in the standings, fell short of his teammate Max Verstappen\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n While the Dutch driver claimed 19 wins and 575 points, Perez won just two grands prix and scored 285. He did, however, hand Red Bull the 1-2 in the Drivers\u2019 standings and continued with the team into 2024.<\/p>\n Those rumours continued, however, last season Perez wasn\u2019t able to brush them aside with race wins and podiums as he struggled to even achieve the latter, slumping to eighth in the standings. His troubles ultimately cost Red Bull the Constructors\u2019 title and, in the weeks after the season\u2019s conclusion, Red Bull and Perez announced they\u2019d parted ways.<\/p>\n The late call meant Perez wasn\u2019t able to negotiate a new deal with a rival team for F1 2025 and instead spent this year on the sidelines.<\/p>\n In hindsight, though, that wasn\u2019t a bad situation for him to be in.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t feel at the time [but I needed the break],\u201d Perez told the official F1 website. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you are in the sport, you are carried away with the fact that you are always thinking about your next year, your next race, your next contract. It\u2019s like you are in automatic mode. <\/p>\n \u201cBut once you are forced to step out of it like I was, you realise a lot of things and you see the sport different.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn the beginning, the first couple of months were great. I realised that I missed [F1] because I kept following it. I kept waking up for the races.<\/p>\n \u201cI could see what was happening \u2013 I was talking to friends that were in the paddock, and I realised that probably I missed it more than I thought.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then when the conversation started with Cadillac and we could see that passion for racing, then, yeah, I felt like I still have something left in me.\u201d<\/p>\n More on Cadillac from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 The figures behind Cadillac\u2019s big spending spree as F1 debut nears<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Cadillac announces latest senior hire ahead of F1 2026 entry<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cNow that I look back, it was like a dream scenario, being able to take a year out and then get that refreshment.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter 15 years or so in Formula 1 to get that refreshment and then have all the energy again for what I see as my final stint in the sport\u2026 <\/p>\n \u201cI have all the energy now to get back to it, to work with the team, to push the team forwards in all areas, on the simulator. It\u2019s a new team so we\u2019re starting basically from zero.\u201d<\/p>\n The hiatus, Perez admits, helped him fall back in love with Formula 1.<\/p>\n Laying down the laps at Imola in a blacked-out Ferrari SF-23 in his first run in a Formula 1 car in almost a year, Perez says he rediscovered his love for the sport while he was away from it.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, definitely,\u201d said the 35-year-old. \u201cYou have to remember that my last six months at Red Bull were very difficult for myself in all areas.<\/p>\n \u201cI started to have a bit of demotivation with the sport and I cannot let that happen because this is a sport that gave me everything.<\/p>\n \u201cThe day that I leave the sport, I want to leave it with a big smile and a lot of respect because the sport has given me everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Perez, however, won\u2019t be leaving Formula 1 any time soon as he\u2019s reportedly signed a multi-year agreement with Cadillac.<\/p>\n Revealing his stint with the American team will be his last hurrah, Perez <\/p>\n \u201cI see this as my main, big, final project in the sport and I want to make sure that I make it a successful comeback,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, it\u2019s a bit irrelevant where we start. What is more important is how quickly we are able to progress. I want to push the team forward from day one. I think we will be able to surprise a lot of people. That\u2019s a target for us, to be able to have a strong impact in Formula 1 since day one.\u201d<\/p>\n No official times were released after Perez\u2019s Ferrari outing, but sources have indicated to PlanetF1.com<\/a> that Perez\u2019s best time was into the 1:16s, faster than the 1:17.27 suggested on social media.<\/p>\n