Sergio Perez voices 'surprise' element to F1 comeback

Sergio Perez has stated he is “surprised” how quickly he got back up to speed in F1 after taking a year out on the sidelines.

Perez departed Red Bull at the end of the 2024 campaign, having endured a challenging campaign with the Milton Keynes-based squad.

However, he was quickly on the radar of grid newcomer Cadillac and was signed alongside fellow F1 veteran Valtteri Bottas to form an experienced driver line-up at the squad.

Perez has held the upper hand at the American squad this year and his situation is being monitored by rival F1 teams.

When asked how beneficial his year out was, Perez told media including RacingNews365: “I think it was really good for me. 

“The way it worked out, having a year off is not easy to come back to the sport.”

Perez began his preparations for a return in November last year, when he jumped behind the wheel of an older Ferrari challenger.

Having not driven a race car in almost 12 months prior to the test, Perez admitted surprise over how quickly he was able to get into a rhythm.

“I was actually surprised when I did the test in the middle of last year with Ferrari, with the 2023 car, how quickly I got up to speed,” he said.

“I didn’t want to drive anything else, any other series, until I knew what I was going to do in my future, and I didn’t drive anything other than [F1], and when I jumped in the Ferrari, within a couple of laps, a couple of runs, I was already up to speed, up to the pace. 

“So that gave me a lot of confidence and I knew that starting this year everyone was going to start from zero with these new regulations, so I think pretty much straightforward.

“Once I’ve done it for so long, it didn’t take me too long to get up to speed.”