Sergio Perez lifts the lid on Aston Martin axe in ‘loyalty’ admission

Sergio Perez concluded that there was no “loyalty” in Formula 1 after playing a critical role in Lawrence Stroll’s purchase of Force India, only to be dropped ahead of the Aston Martin transformation.

It was a decision that he could understand though, after four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel became available. This development led to Perez driving for the one team he “never” expected to join, Red Bull.

Sergio Perez did not take Aston Martin axe ‘personally’

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The current Aston Martin team can be traced back to Force India, two iterations of ‘Team Silverstone’ ago.

Perez actually played a critical role in saving Force India amid financial turmoil. He deliberately triggered the team into administration to protect it from a winding up petition. That opened the door for Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll to buy the team.

The team was rebranded to ‘Racing Point’ from 2019, with Perez partnering Lawrence’s son, Lance Stroll, who had burst onto the F1 scene with Williams.

Two years later, Racing Point became Aston Martin, but Perez, to his surprise, was not kept on for that transition.

Instead, Vettel was brought in from Ferrari to partner Stroll.

“It was difficult,” said Perez of that axing, as he spoke on the High Performance Podcast.

“I had a three-year contract with the team, obviously with options in it, and my future was going to be with that team, that I’ve been with pretty much my whole life, and I helped [Lawrence] to buy it and so on.

“So I really thought that I was going to be part of that project together with Lawrence and Lance.

“But then obviously Sebastian came available. A four-time world champion became available, and I understood this is how the sport works. I knew that he was going to be a great interest for Lawrence.

“So he had an option. He didn’t renew it, and then he went for Sebastian.

“I was like, ‘Look, there is no loyalty in this sport.’ I didn’t take it personally. I actually have a great relationship with all the people in Aston.”

Perez did not become disillusioned after this development. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The Mexican racer took his first Grand Prix win in Sakhir, the penultimate round of 2020.

That convinced Red Bull to sign Perez as Max Verstappen’s new teammate for 2021.

Of all the options which Perez thought he had for his career, joining Red Bull was not one of them.

“So I said, ‘Look, now what can I do?’ I just focused on what I could do, which is perform on track, see what happens,” Perez continued.

“If there is a good opportunity for the next year, I’ll take it. If not, I’ll sit out for a year and then come back, because there was some interest. I had a few alternatives, but not for the year after.

“And then I ended up winning my race towards the end of the year, and then Red Bull came.

“The only team I thought that I was never going to drive for was Red Bull, because they always have their academy drivers. So I end up driving for Red Bull.”

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Perez won five grands prix as a Red Bull driver, but departed following the 2024 season after a collapse in performance.

He returned to the grid in F1 2026 with newcomers Cadillac.

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