The 35-year-old parted ways with the Austrian team, which has struggled hugely in 2024, with a battle between Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson taking place for the seat next to Max Verstappen.

It was Lawson who was the driver chosen to be promoted from Racing Bulls to Red Bull, but after just two Grands Prix, where the New Zealander struggled massively, he was then demoted back down to the sister team, allowing Tsunoda to join Red Bull.

Fittipaldi believes there was a mishandling of the situation around the second seat, stating that Perez was misunderstood and that his successors have not performed any better in the seat next to Verstappen.

“Checo Pérez was a great representative of us (Latin Americans) and he wasn't understood at Red Bull,” says Fittipaldi to AS México. “This year we're seeing the test with drivers who are with Max Verstappen, in my opinion, they're worse than Checo.

"Pérez won in Monaco, he won in Baku, very difficult city circuits, street circuits, and he's very fast. We're seeing the difficulties. Red Bull is changing drivers to see who gets close to Verstappen, but Checo was the best,” the Brazilian continued.

GPblog had already reported that Perez is being considered by Cadillac for a seat in 2026. In conversation with this site, Mario Andretti confirmed in Miami that the Mexican is still seen as a serious candidate for the team, which organised an extravagant brand launch during the Miami Grand Prix weekend.

Fittipaldi believes Perez's career is far from over, seeing a potential return for him at Cadillac when they enter F1 in 2026.

“General Motors with the Cadillac brand, when it comes to Formula 1, it does so with a very serious program, very imperative, with many divisions, and surely Checo Pérez is a very strong candidate,” concludes Fittipaldi.