Peres recounted how Marko referred him to a psychologist.

      Sergio Pérez revealed that in 2021, during his first season with Red Bull Racing, Helmut Marko paid for a very expensive psychologist that was offered for the Mexican driver to work with.

      “When I started driving for Red Bull, after the first races in which I couldn’t get the necessary results, I was told I needed to see a psychologist,” Sergio recalled while taking part in the Cracks podcast. “Of course, I was ready for anything. So, we spoke with the psychologist — this Englishman said something to me, after which I told him that I didn’t have time to talk then, but let’s pick another time for the session.

      And then he showed up at the Red Bull Racing base, brought a bill for £6,000 and said: ‘Please send this to Helmut, he will pay.’

      Pérez took a win at the wheel of a Red Bull on his sixth attempt, winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after which he went on to stand on the podium four more times that season. But he is still surprised by the size of the bill the psychologist issued back then:

      “Six thousand pounds for one session! Helmut then asked: how did it go? I answered that everything was great. After that the results began to improve — in the end, that conversation proved effective. And then, in the later years, when big difficulties began, I asked: ‘Maybe I need help, because there are no results.’

      I tried everything then, but deep down I perfectly understood: when you have a car that you know exactly in which corner you’ll crash, you can’t go fast.”

      After that season Pérez had to part ways with Red Bull Racing, despite his contract with the team having been extended, but in 2025 the experienced Mexican became a driver for the new factory Cadillac F1 team.