Sergio Perez is set to join his sixth different team in Formula 1 when he returns to the grid for the 2026 season.
Perez’s career started with Sauber, before stints at McLaren, Force India, Racing Point and Red Bull. He then spent a season away from the sport after being let go by Red Bull following the 2024 campaign.
Many thought that could have been it for Perez in F1, but Cadillac have handed both him and Valtteri Bottas another shot at racing.
Following a disappointing 2024 season, Red Bull dropped Perez, and by then, all other seats on the grid had been filled.
However, this was not the first time the Mexican driver found himself without a seat or a clear path back into F1.
Perez’s only year with McLaren came in 2013 before they decided to move on from him. He eventually ended up signing with Force India.
However, Perez has now revealed that his other option was Caterham, but he went on to admit that he would have rather quit F1 altogether than drive for the British team.
Sergio Perez says he would have left Formula 1 rather than race for Caterham
Perez spoke about his exit from McLaren during an appearance on the Cracks Podcast, and explained: “It was frustrating, it was a difficult year because I was competing with Jenson, a driver who was already well established in the team, a world champion.
“I had a very good year in terms of speed and everything, but we were never able to show it because we were never able to make progress with the car, so they decided not to renew my contract.
“And in October, November, I didn’t have a place in Formula 1, and there were two teams, Caterham and Force India.
“Caterham was not an option, I was clear about that, I wasn’t going to go to Caterham, I preferred to stop in Formula 1.
“ It was a very real option to look for another category, maybe one more year, to see if I could come back, but it wasn’t an option.”
Marcus Ericsson gives harsh verdict on Caterham’s 2014 F1 car
Perez joined Force India in 2014, just as Caterham were beginning their season with Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson.
The team had moved on from Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde, bringing in the more experienced Kobayashi to partner rookie Ericsson.
The Swede, who started his career with the CT05 that year, recently looked back on all the cars he drove in F1 and rated them on TikTok. The CT05 was the same car Perez would have been driving if he’d taken up their offer.
He said: “[I was] thankful to get the opportunity to drive in Formula 1, not so thankful about the performance of that very nicely green Caterham.
“It was a piece beep of to drive, and yeah, I mean, I’ve got to give it a one out of 10.
“That was not a good race car.”
Perez made the right call. He scored 59 points for Force India that year and even landed a podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, none of Caterham’s four drivers managed to score a single point. Andre Lotterer and Will Stevens also made one-off appearances for the team that season.
The team failed to make it onto the grid in 2015 after going into administration. It only further highlighted why Perez chose not to join them back then.
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