Villeneuve Blasts Cadillac with Red Bull ‘Curse’ & Perez Criticism

Jacques Villeneuve has a theory about why Red Bull’s second seat seems cursed, and he’s not pulling any punches about Sergio Perez in the process.

The 1997 World Champion doesn’t think there are enough truly skilled drivers in today’s Formula 1.

“I think when they put in [Pierre] Gasly and [Alex] Albon, they weren’t ready,” Villeneuve told Sky Sports F1. “They still needed their half a season as rookies to get up to speed, and they weren’t given it. Those two drivers are better now than when they were at Red Bull.”

According to the outspoken Canadian, finding someone who can match Max Verstappen‘s abilities is a real challenge for Red Bull.

“Max is an old fashioned driver, and there’s not many like him anymore,” he explained. “There used to be more, [but] there’s not many like Max anymore, so to find another driver that will work with the team, work on the car to make it his and to help the team progress, it’s not easy.”

But Villeneuve doesn’t accept excuses. When asked about drivers who can’t contribute technically to their teams, his response was blunt.

“Well, that’s because they’re not good enough. It’s that simple.”

He believes truly talented drivers will eventually get close enough to make their feedback valuable to the team.

“But some drivers, and there’s a lot of them, they just come in and they don’t know how to work on a setup. They just say, ‘oh yeah, I’ve got a little bit of understeer.’ Okay, well, why? What’s happening? What do you feel on the ground? They don’t have an idea.”

This lack of technical understanding creates a downward spiral throughout the season.

“They just say, ‘okay, if Max does this, I’ll do the same.’ That doesn’t help. During the season, they get further and further away.”

Villeneuve roasts Perez

When it comes to Sergio Perez, who Red Bull is dropping after the 2024 season, Villeneuve didn’t hold back.

“Perez at his peak or already at plateau, wasn’t going to get any better, but he was never a World Champion to start with.”

Ouch.

Can Red Bull find that key driver for their second seat?

Red Bull’s second driver problems continue even now. Yuki Tsunoda is struggling to get comfortable with his RB21, while Verstappen has already claimed three wins this season in the same machinery.

As 2026 approaches with major regulation changes, there’s a real opportunity for whoever takes that second Red Bull seat to break the “curse” and consistently score points alongside Verstappen.

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