Former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez says Adrian Newey's departure eroded the team's advantage over the rest of the Formula One grid.

Having first joined Red Bull in 2006, Newey left his role as the team's chief technical officer midway through last season.

Newey, who oversaw the development of cars that won eight drivers' championships and six constructors' titles for Red Bull, joined Aston Martin amid suggestions his relationship with Christian Horner had soured.

A fine start to 2024 ensured Max Verstappen won his fourth straight drivers' title, but McLaren and Ferrari both finished above Red Bull in the team standings following a late-season downturn.

This campaign has begun in similar fashion, with Verstappen third in the drivers' standings behind McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, while Red Bull are fourth in the constructors' table.

Perez, who was released by Red Bull at the end of the 2024 season, believes their advantage was always marginal and losing Newey caused it to evaporate.

"We didn't dominate in an era like Mercedes, which had an advantage with the engine," Perez said during an interview on the Desde el Paddock podcast.

"Here, the advantage was very small, and we had a great team. When Adrian Newey left, I think that's when a lot more problems started."

Perez's release came shortly after Red Bull had given him a new contract, and his replacement, Liam Lawson, only lasted two races before being demoted in favour of Yuki Tsunoda.

Thank you for these four years @redbullracing
I wish you the best. pic.twitter.com/9vLUwvqBDl

— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) December 18, 2024

Perez claims sources at Red Bull have intimated that they regret cutting him loose, adding: "I know that deep down they are very sorry, I know that from a very good source.

"People might think I'm happy about it, but no... we had a great team, and in the end, it fell apart, little by little.

"In the end, that's how the sport is. Decisions were made because there was too much pressure that they themselves ended up creating.

"I had a signed contract in Monaco, but from the next race onwards, everyone was talking about my future even though I already had a signed contract.

"It would have been easy for the team to protect me and say, 'You know what? We have a driver signed for the next two years'. But that wasn't the case. From then on, no one talked about anything other than Red Bull, race after race.

"It was putting a lot of pressure on the engineers, on everyone involved, and I think in the end that ended up costing us a lot."

The F1 season resumes this weekend, with Red Bull hoping to end a run of three races without victory on home soil at the Austrian Grand Prix.