Sergio Perez left Red Bull with unfulfilled promise from Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen has confessed that he made a promise to former Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez that went unfulfilled when Checo left the team at the close of 2024.

He’s hoping he’ll run into Perez sometime later this season to make good on his vow: To give his former teammate one of his helmets.

Max Verstappen still owes Sergio Perez a helmet swap

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

When Red Bull Racing announced that it would sign Sergio Perez to join wunderkind Max Verstappen for the 2021 Formula 1 season, more than a few heads were scratched. The Austrian team is known for its commitment to its young driver program; signing a veteran seemed somewhat antithetical to its mission.

Though Checo’s relationship with the team admittedly soured in 2024, he proved to be a smart signing as the team re-entered a new era of domination after years of the podium’s top step being dominated by Mercedes. From the get-go, the driver from Mexico reliably scored the points required to pad Red Bull’s control over the World Constructors’ Championship.

Unfortunately, the driver/team relationship went a bit sour in 2024 as Perez struggled to bring a challenging car home in the points, resulting in the pairing parting ways despite Checo inking a contract for 2025.

But Verstappen maintains that he and Perez are still good friends — even though the reigning champion never fulfilled a promise he made to Checo about doing a helmet swap!

Dig deeper into Red Bull Racing:

👉 Inside Red Bull: Christian Horner and the other major players in Red Bull’s hierarchy

👉 Hit or miss? Rating Red Bull’s previous in-season driver swaps

The revelation came during the pre-event press conference at the Austrian Grand Prix, where Verstappen was questioned about some comments Sergio Perez made on the Desde el Paddock podcast.

There, Perez addressed several controversial incidents between himself and Verstappen during the 2022 season, concluding that Verstappen “holds things in until he finally lets them out, usually on track.”

The reigning champion was asked if this alters his interpretation of his relationship with Perez, but Verstappen defended his former teammate.

“No,” he said. “But I think also how you now worded it is not how he meant it.

“I have a great relationship with Checo. We’ve always been great team-mates. I have a lot of respect for him, he has a lot of respect for me. That’s it from my side.”

Then, he confessed that he still had one promise left to keep regarding Perez.

“I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing him again soon in the paddock,” Verstappen said.

“I still need to give him a helmet of mine – I promised him that, because he gave me one of his with a very nice message on it. I promised him, yeah, hopefully around Mexico that I can give him mine.

“So, for me, whatever is written in the media, I know how Checo is and we have a great relationship.”

Read next: Sergio Perez claims Red Bull ‘regret’ exit after ‘very reliable source’ tip-off