Perez tags Newey’s departure as start of Red Bull’s woes

Former Red Bull driver Segio Perez has revealed that the exit of Adrian Newey signalled the start of trouble with Red Bull.

Newey, who was the chief technical officer of the team, stepped down from his role in the middle of the 2024 season, before finally leaving the team at the start of this season for Aston Martin 

Last year, Red Bull finished third on the constructors’ leaderboard, after winning the the title two years in a row before that. Although the team had a good start to the season, things began to go wrong around the fime Newey stepped down from his former role. Added to that was the departure of former Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley. 

Perez, in a recent podcast episode, said the departure of those two men caused issues for the team: “We didn’t dominate in an era like Mercedes, which had an advantage with the engine.

“When Adrian Newey left, I think that’s when a lot more problems started. Then Jonathan Wheatley left, who was a fundamental part of the team.”

The Mexican also touched on his departure from Red Bull and what might had triggered it. Perez had signed a 2-year contract with the team, just months before being fired at the end of the season. 

He said: “I had a signed contract in Monaco, but from the next race onwards, everyone was talking about my future even though I already had a signed contract.

“It would have been easy for the team to protect me and say, ‘You know what? We have a driver signed for the next two years’. But that wasn’t the case. From then on, no one talked about anything other than Red Bull race after race.” He also added that they had a good thing over at Red Bull and he was not happy over the current state of things. 

Perez had been blamed for failing to earn points to support his dominant teammate, Max Verstappen, even after proving himself very supportive in the past seasons. At the moment, the 35-year-old is out of action but there are rumours that he could be back on the grid with another outfit, with the name “Cadillac” being linked to him. 

For now, Perez has neither confirmed nor denied the rumour but we can expect more details on his next steps soon.