The Mexican racer drove alongside the four-time world champion at Red Bull from 2021 until 2024 and admits that he found it difficult to cope with the task of trying to match one of the sport's leading drivers.

Perez – who is returning to F1 in 2026 with Cadillac after a year away from the grid - told the Cracks Podcast: "We had the best team.

"Unfortunately, everything was destroyed. We had the team to have dominated the next 10 years in F1, I believe, and unfortunately, everything came to an end. But I was in the best team.

"A complicated team, right? Because being Max's team-mate... just being Max's team-mate is already very difficult, but being Max's team-mate at Red Bull is the worst job there is in Formula 1, by far.

"Everyone forgot, didn't they? When I arrived at Red Bull, I started getting results and everything, and everyone forgot how difficult it was to be in the seat. And I was very aware of what I was getting into. I arrived at Red Bull and they put you up against one of the greatest drivers in history."

Perez explained how former Red Bull team boss Christian Horner outlined to him that he would be playing second fiddle to Verstappen before he joined the team.

The six-time Grand Prix winner said: "I knew what I was getting into.

"This project is built for Max. When I first sat down with Christian, he told me: 'Look, we're going to race with two cars because we have to race with two cars. But this project has been created for Max. Max is our talent.'

"It's like if Carlos Slim builds a team and I'm his driver, right? And you hire a Dutch guy. So it's the same thing."

Perez continued: "So that's what I was stepping into, and I was very aware of it. I told him: 'It doesn't matter. In this team I'm going to develop the car, I'm going to support the car, I'm going to support the team.'"