Sergio Perez has refused to walk back his assertion that he belongs among the very best drivers in Formula 1, using Monaco's Thursday media day to expand on comments first made after the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Mexican returned to the grid in 2026 with Cadillac following his exit from Red Bull at the end of 2025, and a competitive start to the campaign has clearly restored his confidence. Asked to clarify his earlier remarks, he did not hesitate.
"I'm one of the best out there," Perez said.
He was equally direct about why that conviction had been so hard to see during his final, painful stretch in a Red Bull. For Perez, the lesson of recent seasons is that raw ability counts for little without the right environment around it.
"You require the right circumstances for your talent to be able to show it," he explained.
That context, he argued, is essential to understanding the slump that ultimately cost him his seat at the reigning champions. He was candid about how his form had appeared from the outside.
"When you look at my last six months at Red Bull, you wouldn't think that I'm one of the best out there," Perez admitted.
The implication was clear: the driver who struggled so visibly in 2024 was, in his view, a product of circumstance rather than a decline in talent. His move to Cadillac, he suggested, has given him the platform to demonstrate as much – and to settle the matter in his own mind.
"I'm very pleased I came back and prove it to myself," he said.
Perez's return has been one of the more intriguing subplots of the 2026 season. Written off by some after a chastening end to his Red Bull tenure, he has used the Cadillac project to rebuild both his reputation and his self-belief. Alongside team-mate Valtteri Bottas, he has helped the new operation establish itself, and Montreal offered fresh evidence that the speed which once made him a grand prix winner has not deserted him.
Monaco, a circuit where Perez has tasted victory before, now presents another opportunity to back up the bold words. If he can deliver around the principality's unforgiving barriers, the claim that he remains one of the best on the grid will be a good deal harder to dispute.
Source: newsformula.one