Steiner harshly judges Perez: 'Wait a minute, I don't want to be cynical here'
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- Ludo van Denderen
As preparations for the new Formula 1 season continue, Sergio Perez sits at home with his family. The Mexican lost his seat at Red Bull Racing, but that doesn't mean a definite departure for the Mexican from the competition. Guenther Steiner believes a return with Cadillac is more than logical.
During an exclusive interview with GPblog, Steiner argues that for Cadillac - who will likely become the 11th team to join the sport, in 2026 -, it would even be wise to bring Perez in. "If you're Cadillac, you need somebody experienced. Checo has been in quite a few teams for a long time. He knows his way around. He could be a big help."
According to Steiner, Perez would be more useful for the Americans at the moment than Colton Herta, who is on pole position to make his debut in F1 as a rookie with Cadillac. "Maybe put him (Perez) on a one-year contract. It's a lot better than having old rookies in there. That's an opportunity for Checo."
"And by then, a year of digesting the beating from Max, he recovers from the Dutch beating, so it could bring him to a better place again. I would say he could have value for Cadillac," the former Haas F1 team principal explained.
'Perez couldn't handle the pressure from Red Bull and Verstappen'
Switching from Red Bull to the newly-created Cadillac team would require a different mindset. Fighting for a point would already be quite an achievement there, whereas for Red Bull, anything less than winning hardly matters. Steiner, however, says: "Wait a moment. I don't want to be cynical here. He was up at the front of the grid last year."
"We need to be realistic. Fighting for one point because the car cannot be better is one thing, but fighting for one point when your teammate with the same car is winning races puts you in a different headspace, it's a different pressure."
"Checo was very good when he was at Force India Racing, whatever it was called, Racing Point. He always overdelivered as an underdog. He couldn't keep up with the pressure of the top team. So maybe it’s his comfort zone where he has not got that pressure to need to show that he's good by winning, by showing that I can make a point, maybe that maybe puts him in a better place," Steiner believes.
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