Sergio Perez Charged Staggering Amount For Therapy During Red Bull Days

Sergio Perez is preparing himself for a return to Formula 1 in the 2026 season with new side Cadillac, but in a recent interview, he discussed his time as Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull, revealing how the team made him have therapy after a few poor results on the track.

The Mexican had been a regular on the F1 circuit since his debut way back in 2011, but missed out on a seat for last season as Red Bull decided to replace him with Liam Lawson. As we now know, that switch lasted a matter of races, as the New Zealander was then swapped out for Yuki Tsunoda, who, it must be said, didn’t fare much better.

Perez started his F1 career with Sauber way back in 2011, but didn’t register his first win until 2020 when driving for Racing Point, and it was after that season in 2021 that he signed for Christian Horner’s side, where he would spend the next four years.

Sergio Perez’s Time at Red Bull

During his first season with Red Bull, Perez would win just one race, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and would finish on the podium a rather disappointing five times. He did, however, finish that season on 160 points, which was enough to finish fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.

However, it was the early days at Red Bull that caused the Mexican to go to see a therapist, on the advice of the team, who told him that it could help improve results.

Reflecting on his time at Red Bull, and the early days in particular, Perez recalled how he was sent to see a therapist after the first few races didn’t garner impressive results for him.

“As soon as I arrived at Red Bull, in the first races, when I didn’t deliver results, [they told me] ‘What you need is a psychologist, you have to see a psychologist’,” Perez told the Cracks podcast.

Sergio Perez’s Therapy Bill at Red Bull

What Perez didn’t expect was the bill that would come his way after the session, which he quickly sent in the direction of Helmut Marko.

“One day, I arrive at the Red Bull factory, and they tell me, ‘Hey, there’s a bill for you’ – £6,000 from the psychologist. I told them, ‘Ah, can you send it to Helmut [Marko, Red Bull advisor]? He’ll pay it.’ It was £6,000 for one call,” he laughed.

“Then Helmut tells me, ‘Hey, how did it go?’ I tell him, ‘Perfect, with this session we’re all set.’ And that’s how we went on for three years, right? Already cured by the psychologist, the results started to come. Well, the call worked.”

Although he won a handful of races and secured solid points throughout his time at Red Bull, Perez admitted that it was hard being second-fiddle to Verstappen, and in 2024, his performances fell off so badly that the team decided to part ways with him for the 2025 campaign.

Sergio Perez on His Struggles at Red Bull

“In the last years, it was so much that I said, ‘Well, maybe I do need help, right? The results aren’t coming.’

“I looked for it everywhere, but deep down I knew perfectly well that when you have a car where you’re thinking about what’s going to happen, what it’s going to do, in which corner you’re going to crash, you can’t go fast.