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Sergio Perez offers insight into 2025 sabbatical: 'I still lacked time'
Sergio Perez has revealed that he "lacked time" to do all he wanted
during his one-year sabbatical from Formula 1 following his Red
Bull exit. The Mexican driver spent 2025 off the grid after parting
ways with Red Bull at the end of the 2024 season, following a
prolonged run of poor results. It offered Perez a rare opportunity
to travel and spend quality time with his young family before
throwing himself back into the world of F1. At the end of August
last year, Cadillac announced it had signed Perez and Valtteri
Bottas, resulting in the former spending much of his time in the
United Kingdom with F1’s newest team. Perez soon found himself in
the simulator and later behind the wheel of an F1 car during a
private test in an older Ferrari. His switch to Cadillac for the
upcoming season brought a premature end to his sabbatical, although
he still enjoyed his time away. Asked what he got up to across his
season out of F1, Perez told the Cracks podcast: "Man, it flew by!
"I travelled a lot. I went to Africa twice - I loved it. I loved
Africa: its culture, tranquillity, landscapes, and animals. I can’t
wait to go back soon. But, well, now it’ll be harder over the next
few years, at least. "I enjoyed [time with] my kids a lot - many
trips with them and with friends. I spent more than three weeks in
one place, something I’d never done in my life. "But I still lacked
time for many things. I wanted to use this year to organise my
family office more and to dedicate more time to golf. I couldn’t do
that as much. "In the end, I ended up working much more than I
thought. And when I realised it, I was already back. I had a
commitment with the team (Cadillac). So it flew by, but I also
learned a lot from the sport. "And the main thing we have to do in
life is enjoy what we do, because we’re so competitive. To achieve
things, you’re always thinking about races, your next contract,
your next race, your next win. "You’re constantly focused on
what’s next, because that’s how Formula 1 is, and that’s how your
life becomes. So you forget, a bit, the main thing: enjoying the
journey."
