Max Verstappen gives Sergio Perez gift with heart-warming note as drivers promise kept

Max Verstappen has given his former Red Bull team-mate, Sergio Perez, a helmet over the festive season after promising the driver he would. 

Perez, who will be joining Cadillac in 2026 alongside former Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas, shared a photo of himself standing alongside the Dutchman on his Instagram account. He can be seen proudly holding the helmet out towards the camera with the visor reading, “Thanks for being a great team-mate and friend."

While neither driver commented on the gift, this was a long-awaited handover. "2025 sabático te fuiste muy rápido," Perez captioned alongside a gallery of photos, translated loosely as: "2025 sabbatical, you left too quickly."

The pair spent multiple seasons together at Red Bull as they formed one of the grid's most scrutinised driver line-ups. While Verstappen seemed to excel in his Milton Keynes machinery, following a successful 2023, Perez faltered in 2024, resulting in him being replaced by Liam Lawson for the 2025 season. Like Perez, Lawson and eventually Yuki Tsunoda also struggled beside the four-time world champion. 

“I still need to give him a helmet of mine – I promised him that," Verstappen told the media, including Motorsport.com earlier last year. "Because he gave me one of his with a very nice message on it. 

Race winner Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes GP, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Dan Istitene / Getty Images

“I promised him, hopefully around Mexico that I can give him mine. 

“So, for me, whatever is written in the media, I know how Checo is and we have a great relationship.”

Perez's talents behind the wheel aren't to be lost, however. The Mexican driver will join Cadillac for the American team's first season in Formula 1 as the championship sees a large overhaul of its regulations. 

"I wanted to come back to finish my career properly but at the same time I thought you know I mean does it really matter you know if I don't get the right project the right motivation to come back I was not even going to consider it for a second," Perez told Sky Sports in October last year. 

"I'm very excited because I believe that I still have a lot to give to the sport," he continued. "I'm very very lucky with the career I've had but I want to finish it on a high. I believe that the last year has been difficult in my career and I know how good I can be with the right environment around me and I feel like people will be surprised on how competitive, how good I will be on my comeback and I have that motivation already with me.

"So I feel like I have this final point to prove in my career and make sure that I leave whenever I want to."