Perez claimed the team did not do enough to protect him last season, particularly after he signed his contract extension in Monaco last May.
“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.
“I think they [Red Bull] understand a lot about how the press works in Formula One, how it is controlled. This one, you haven’t seen any commentary, nothing, nothing, nothing is spoken, and I think that was something important.”
He later added: “Red Bull are a team who push you to the maximum. Then I have to endure all the media pressure. I think in recent years, very few drivers have had that pressure. Nobody had the same number of eyes on them. I mean, I’d have a bad race, and it was something incredible.
“The hardest part of being a Formula One driver? The press.”
‘I don’t need an apology, that’s how it is in F1’
Perez’s claims that other drivers have not faced the same scrutiny may raise eyebrows. New Zealander Liam Lawson, who was initially promoted to Red Bull’s second race seat for this season, alongside Max Verstappen, lasted just two races before he was dropped because of fears that the pressure was taking a mental toll on him.
Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda switched places with Lawson, but the Japanese has found the going similarly tough, managing just seven points in eight races.
Perez, who has been linked with a seat at the new Cadillac team for next season, says he is not rejoicing in Red Bull’s struggles this year.
Asked whether he believed he warranted an apology from Red Bull, he replied: “No. I mean, at the end of the day, that’s how the sport is. They made certain decisions because of the immense pressure – pressure that they themselves helped create.
“But I know, deep down, they regret it. And I know that from a very reliable source.
“Still, what can you do? You move on. It’s tough. I have very good friends there, and people might think I take pleasure in what happened – but no.”
He added that Verstappen, who secured his fourth world title last year despite Red Bull’s waning competitiveness, “deserves all the success he’s having”.
“He’s an incredible driver, and very few people understand the way he works – he’s exceptional.”
But Perez lamented the gradual break-up of Red Bull’s championship-winning team, which secured drivers’ and constructors’ world titles in 2022 and 2023, as well as the drivers’ crowns in 2021 and 2024.
“We had a great team. In the end, it slowly fell apart, but we really did have something special, during one of the most competitive eras in F1,” the six-time grand prix winner said.
“We didn’t dominate in an era like Mercedes, which had an advantage with the engine. In our case, the performance gap was minimal, and we still built a powerhouse. When Adrian Newey left, I think that’s when a lot more problems started. Then Jonathan Wheatley [former sporting director] left, who was a fundamental part of the team.”
