The 33-year-old had another dismal race at the Dutch Grand Prix as Max Verstappen increased his F1 championship lead.
Through 13 rounds, Perez trails his Red Bull colleague by 138 points. He missed the podium six times this year.
Perez just had himself to blame for not finishing on the Zandvoort podium.
The Mexican finished P3 behind Verstappen and Fernando Alonso but slipped to P4 after a five-second time penalty.
Red Bull promoted Perez following an outstanding pit stop at the conclusion of the first lap.
After qualifying 1.3 seconds slower than Verstappen, he began P7. Early pitting for intermediate tyres gave Perez the race lead.
Perez retained a large lead over Verstappen, who stopped on lap two and finished P10. But the local hero reclaimed the places and was P2 by lap seven.
Verstappen comfortably caught Perez on better track conditions. Red Bull pitted Verstappen back on slicks first to avoid a track brawl.
He also undercut Perez, who never seemed interested in battling the 25-year-old. He focused on protecting Alonso before rain.
Perez gave Alonso P2 as he misread his Turn 1 braking spot and soared straight on.