"Big shocker from a disgruntled employee": Fans react to Sergio Perez's father claiming his son had a different car from Max Verstappen

Fans reacted as Sergio Perez's father claimed he was given a different car than Max Verstappen, which led to his downfall in performance in recent seasons. Red Bull terminated his contract and swapped him for Liam Lawson after a lack in performance which saw the team losing the Constructors' Championship last year.

Perez drove for Red Bull between 2021 and 2024. He won multiple races and proved to be quite a competitive driver, however, his performance raised doubts last year. Although the car wasn't dominant in the second half of the season, Verstappen was consistently putting it in points, meanwhile, Perez struggled.

Following a subpar season, the team decided to replace him despite giving him a contract extension till 2026 earlier.

Antonio Perez, Sergio's father, claimed the team had given different cars to his son and Max Verstappen and challenged that if the latter was to drive the #11 car last year, he wouldn't make it out of Q1 during qualifying.

"What I'm about to say will cause a lot of commotion, but the car with number 1 [Verstappen] was not the same as the car with number 11 (Perez]," he said, via RacingNews365.

"And if you were to put the driver of car 1 in car 11, he won't get out of Q1 in qualifying either and he won't pass the car with number 1. If you put the driver from car 1 in car 11, he doesn't do any better."

While Perez Sr. was serious with his claims, fans on social media criticized him, claiming that Sergio Perez's driving had gotten worse over time.

"Big shocker from a disgruntled employee after being fired."

"I love Checo but this is embarrassing. Come on," wrote another fan.

"There is no need for this," a user mentioned.

Others also challenged that Verstappen would have been able to out-qualify Sergio Perez under any conditions, with some labeling Antonio's comments as 'fairy tales'

"Max could outqualify Checo in a Volkswagen Beetle. One of the old ones," claimed a fan.

"Who believes such fairy tales?" a user questioned.

---

Max Verstappen hopes Red Bull will find more performance in the car this season

Red Bull Racing is suffering from a lack of performance in the RB21. The team lost their domination on the grid which they had established in the past few seasons. Moreover, Max Verstappen has remained winless in the opening two rounds for the first time since 2021.

The team also swapped Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda after just two races, given that Lawson failed to score any points for the team and was consistently dropping to the back of the grid. With the Japanese driver on board, Red Bull has much to look forward to, given both their drivers' experiences.

Verstappen also felt the need for both cars to score points this season to have a more competitive backing. He mentioned that it would be profitable if the team managed to find more pace in the car.

"Naturally, I think as a team, you want both cars to use the full potential," Max Verstappen said, via F1. "For us, that has been a bit of a difficulty for whatever reason. We always try to do the best we can. I always try to do the best I can as well with my car. I will continue to do so, but I think in general we just need to focus on finding a bit more performance from the car, making it a bit more predictable. I think that will help everyone."

The season ahead is another challenge for Red Bull Racing as they no longer have the services of F1's 'aero wizard' Adrian Newey, who left the team this year and joined Aston Martin. The Austrian outfit would have to choose between making their car more competitive or working on the 2026 car with the new regulations. They stand in third place in the Constructors' championship with 36 points, all scored by Max Verstappen.