Sergio Perez recalls staggering first Christian Horner discussion

Sergio Perez has lifted the lid on his first conversation with Christian Horner upon joining Red Bull, revealing that the team principal made it crystal clear the entire operation revolved around Max Verstappen.

The Mexican, now racing for Cadillac following his return to the grid, spent four seasons at Red Bull from 2021 to 2024, collecting five grands prix victories, 26 podiums and a career-best runner-up finish in 2023.

But throughout that spell, Perez was never in any doubt about his role within the team hierarchy. Before joining the Milton Keynes-based outfit, he knew exactly how Red Bull operated and that he would not be the priority.

For a number of years, Red Bull has been built around Verstappen, with the Dutchman receiving the team's most experienced engineers.

Despite the circumstances, Perez reflects on his time at the Austrian outfit as largely positive, having known exactly what he was signing up for.

Asked how he reflects on his time at Red Bull, Perez told the High Performance podcast: "It was great. I would say it was fantastic. 

"I knew I was going to Red Bull, into a project that had been built around Max over the years. When they signed me, it was very clear. I knew what I'd signed up for."

Even if the 36-year-old had not known what he was walking into at Red Bull, Horner made it perfectly clear when they first met.

Horner told Perez that the team would run just one car if it could, and that everything it did was for Verstappen.

Discussing if it was made clear how things worked at Red Bull, Perez explained: "Yeah, the first time I met Christian, he told me, 'We go racing with two cars because we have to, you know. Otherwise, we'd be super happy just to race with one car. Everything is for Max, around Max. We want to win the championship.'"