Sergio Perez claims that being dropped by Red Bull at the end of last season turned out to be a good thing.

Under intense pressure to raise his game, at a time the Mexican should have been digging deep and improving he actually appeared to get worse, and consequently when he was dropped at season end - despite having a contract for this year - it came as no big surprise.

Since then, other than being recruited by Cadillac as it enters the sport in 2026, the Mexican will have derived some satisfaction from the fact that his replacements at Red Bull have fared no better than he did, indeed, arguably worse.

One had to feel for the Mexican as it appeared his career was over, and talking to the official F1 website, while admitting that being dropped hit him hard it turned out to be a good thing.

"I didn't feel at the time," he says, admitting that he needed a break from the sport. "When you are in the sport, you are carried away with the fact that you are always thinking about your next year, your next race, your next contract. It's like you are in automatic mode. But once you are forced to step out of it like I was, you realise a lot of things and you see the sport different.

"In the beginning, the first couple of months were great," he says. "I realised that I missed F1 because I kept following it. I kept waking up for the races. I could see what was happening - I was talking to friends that were in the paddock, and I realised that probably I missed it more than I thought.

"And then when the conversation started with Cadillac and we could see that passion for racing, then, yeah, I felt like I still have something left in me.

"Now that I look back, it was like a dream scenario, being able to take a year out and then get that refreshment. After 15 years or so in Formula 1 to get that refreshment and then have all the energy again for what I see as my final stint in the sport. I have all the energy now to get back to it, to work with the team, to push the team forwards in all areas, on the simulator. It's a new team so we're starting basically from zero."

Coming off the back of a two-day test at Imola in a 2023 Ferrari, as much as he relishes the challenge with Cadillac he admits that this is almost certainly the final phase of his F1 career.

"You have to remember that my last six months at Red Bull were very difficult for myself in all areas," he says. "I started to have a bit of demotivation with the sport and I cannot let that happen because this is a sport that gave me everything.

"The day that I leave the sport, I want to leave it with a big smile and a lot of respect because the sport has given me everything. I see this as my main, big, final project in the sport and I want to make sure that I make it a successful comeback."