Sergio Perez just said what everyone's been thinking. The Mexican driver, who's spent time at both mega-rich Red Bull and now smaller Cadillac, reckons the budget cap is doing the complete opposite of what it's supposed to do. Instead of leveling the playing field, it's actually making the gap between the top teams and the rest even wider. That's quite the damning assessment from someone who's lived both sides of the grid.

More F1 news: Johnny Herbert on Max Verstappen: What Makes Him So Terrifyingly Good

During the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, Perez laid out exactly why the system is broken. Back at Red Bull Racing, he saw how the big teams operate with surgical precision. They'd bring upgrades every single weekend without blinking at the cost because their operation runs like a well-oiled machine. Money was never the limiting factor, results were. Now at Cadillac, it's a completely different story. Same budget allowance, completely different efficiency levels.

More F1 news: Haas and Ferrari Getting Too Cozy? Here's Why Zak Brown Will Hate This

Here's where it gets interesting. Perez reckons smaller teams burn through their budget caps way faster because they're less efficient in how they spend it. Their processes aren't as refined, their methods aren't as clear, and they waste resources that the powerhouse teams simply wouldn't. So when you cap the budget equally across all teams, you're actually punishing the smaller squads harder. They get less bang for their buck compared to the established outfits who've perfected their spending over decades.

More F1 news: Ralf Schumacher Warns F1 Must Act Now or F2 Becomes Pointless

The 36-year-old was blunt about it: the budget cap was supposed to help smaller teams compete fairly, but instead it's guaranteeing the performance gap stays massive or even grows. It's a structural disadvantage that's baked into the regulations themselves. Without addressing how teams actually operate and spend, capping the total number won't fix anything. Perez's take highlights a problem that's quietly been destroying competitive balance in the sport.

Shop the collection: Sergio Perez merch  •  Red Bull Racing merch  •  Cadillac merch