Formula 1: Sergio Perez talks ‘secret sauce’ behind Red Bull success

Nearing the end of his second season with the team, Sergio Perez discussed the “secret sauce” driving the success Red Bull have recently experienced in Formula 1.

ExxonMobil has been the official technology partner of the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team since the 2017 season, providing the organization with high-performance race fuel and lubricants as well as full-time laboratory and trackside engineering support. ExxonMobil and Mobil 1 have played a key role in the team’s success each weekend for the last six years.

We had the chance to speak with Sergio Perez, who joined the team ahead of the 2021 campaign, about ExxonMobil’s fuel and lubricant technology and how the same “secret sauce” which has powered the team’s most successful season ever can be used in an ordinary everyday family car.

“It’s amazing, the same technology that we are using at the different circuits everywhere around the world, you can access,” Perez explained to Beyond the Flag. “There is so much technology, so much work put through it, it really exposes the engines, all the components, to the maximum life.

“So to be able, for the normal public, to be able to access that, it’s something incredible that ExxonMobil has done.”

As the team’s technology partner, official fuel partner, and official lubricant partner, ExxonMobil provides the team with leading-edge Synergy Race Fuel. The Exxon and Mobil Synergy fuel technology that powers the team is the same technology which powers everyday drivers who fill up at over 12,000 Exxon and Mobil stations across the United States.

Perez has worked with ExxonMobil before, but prior to his arrival at Red Bull last year, he hadn’t done so since 2013 when he drove for McLaren.

“I had the opportunity to work with them when I was at McLaren in 2013, and obviously now with Red Bull,” he noted. “This relationship has been a lot better, and I can say that they are a massive team partner.”

Perez has earned three victories since joining Red Bull last year, the second, third, and fourth of his career. He finished in fourth place in the driver standings in 2021 and currently sits in second with a career-best two victories this year. With McLaren in 2013, he finished in 11th with a top race result of fifth.

Red Bull have all but locked up their first constructor championship since 2013, and their 14 victories, including 12 from two-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen, are a team record. The Austrian team could well be on the verge of their first ever 1-2 finish in the standings.

With Formula 1 back in the United States for this Sunday afternoon’s United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, Perez is enjoying the opportunity to promote ExxonMobil.

“I’m thrilled to be here in Houston, Texas, at the ExxonMobil campus with the wider Red Bull Racing team, participating in different games and challenges, speaking about our team’s partnership with ExxonMobil,” Perez said.

“Throughout the Formula 1 season, our team’s partner ExxonMobil provides Red Bull Racing Honda with innovative racing fuels and lubricant technology that gives us an advantage over the competition on the track.”

When you fill up your car’s tank at an Exxon or Mobil station, you too can be confident you’re getting ExxonMobil’s most advanced fuel ever.

Synergy gasoline has been engineered to help improve your vehicle’s fuel economy and performance by reducing engine deposits, based on a comparison of Synergy-branded gasoline to gasoline meeting minimum U.S. government standards. Actual benefits will vary based on factors such as vehicle type, driving style, and gasoline previously used.

Tune in to ABC at 1:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 23 for the live broadcast of the United States Grand Prix from Circuit of the Americas. If you haven’t yet started a free trial of FuboTV, do so now!