When Sergio Pérez stopped his car after colliding with Valtteri Bottas, he must have known that this would probably be his last act as a Red Bull Formula 1 driver.
At the end of a disappointing – in his own words ‘terrible’ – year, Pérez didn’t even get the chance to complete a single lap in the Abu Dhabi season finale. Bottas’ influence, for which the Sauber driver was penalized, caused Pérez’s RB20 to lose power and come to a standstill.
It denied Pérez the chance to sign off on a positive note at F1 2024. But after his retirement he admitted for the first time that he will not be allowed to race for Red Bull in 2025.
“We are talking to see what is best for the future, and we will see what happens in the coming days,” Pérez said. He added that he and the team are “discussing what the situation is for both sides and seeing if we can come to an agreement.”
On the way to Abu Dhabi, it became clear that Pérez’s time at Red Bull was almost up. The team had lost the constructors’ championship and finished the season third behind McLaren and Ferrari – and with it the prize money. It is only the third time since 2000 that drivers’ champion Verstappen does not drive for the constructors’ champion.
At the end of a year of speculation over Pérez’s future, it finally appears that Red Bull has decided enough is enough and a change is needed before 2025.
Until Sunday, Pérez had been defiant that he would be at Red Bull next year despite his underperformance this season, where he would score barely a third of Max Verstappen’s points total and not finish on the podium since round five in China. As he kept saying, he had signed a contract extension in June.
Pérez maintained his position on his 2025 contract until Thursday’s media day. After qualifying on Saturday, he still had no idea that Sunday would be his last race with Red Bull. He said there was “nothing new to add to what I have said before.”
The change in tone from Pérez on Sunday was also present in Red Bull’s post-race press release. In it, the team quoted Pérez as saying: “We will see what happens in the next few days, I don’t know what will happen at the moment, I have a contract and the team and I have talked. It’s a matter of discussing what’s best for everyone moving forward.”
In Abu Dhabi, talks began between Pérez’s camp and Red Bull about working on the agreement Pérez was referring to, essentially a deal for him to give up the racing seat for next year. Given Pérez’s contribution to Red Bull’s recent success in F1, some sort of ambassadorial role is certainly on the table.
Pérez has scored 65 points since the Chinese GP in April. Verstappen scored 337 points. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
After the race, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said the team wanted to talk to Pérez and “figure out what the right and appropriate path forward is.” He highlighted Pérez’s efforts with the team, particularly the two constructors’ titles and his assist for Max Verstappen at the 2021 final in Abu Dhabi. Despite the difficulty of 2024, Red Bull remains very respectful of the driver.
“If he’s sitting here now, he’s still our driver,” Horner said. “So it would be wrong for me to speculate about what next year could look like until he and I have discussed this year and we think about it as a team.”
But Horner also said the drop to third in the championship showed why it was crucial that two drivers scored consistently, especially as we head into another competitive season in 2025. “Ferrari will be strong with their line-up next year,” he said. “McLaren has a strong line-up. Mercedes will have an inexperienced driver in one of their seats. And so it is very important to us that both our drivers perform and that there is not a big gap.”
Once an agreement has been reached on Pérez’s supposed departure, Red Bull’s next task will be to decide who will race alongside Verstappen. Horner said the four-time champion is the “hardest teammate in the world to have.”
All signs in Abu Dhabi pointed to RB’s Liam Lawson getting the nod and becoming a Red Bull Racing driver in 2025. The New Zealander retired late in Abu Dhabi after an earlier loose wheel cost him the chance to fight for points, and he only has 11 F1 races under his belt. However, he has always been highly regarded within the Red Bull circuit, especially by advisor Helmut Marko. Red Bull also has a history of backing such inexperience, promoting Alex Albon to Verstappen’s teammate after just 12 races in 2019. Lawson, 22, has just one retirement and six points.
Promoting Lawson would be a blow to Yuki Tsunoda, who qualified first in all six races they spent as teammates this year. The 24-year-old Tsunoda has been racing for RB since 2021 and has made decent progress each year, yet doubts appear to remain at Red Bull over his promotion to the senior team.
“I think Liam, in challenging conditions, did very well,” said Horner after the race in Abu Dhabi. “If you analyze what he has done in the time he has had and the race pace he has had, I think he has done well.
“I think Yuki did a good job. If anything were to be decided with Checo, they would be the candidates we would look at.”
If Red Bull were to appoint Lawson as Verstappen’s teammate for 2025, it would free up a seat alongside Tsunoda at RB that is likely to be filled by Isack Hadjar. The 20-year-old Hadjar finished second in the F2 standings this year and took part in two F1 training sessions for Red Bull in 2024. He hinted in Qatar that he already knew his plans for 2025 after emerging as the leading youngster in Red Bull’s junior programme. waiting to move on to F1.
Sergio Perez walks to his garage after the qualifying session prior to the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix. (HAMAD I MOHAMMED/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Pérez’s struggle through 2024 has been difficult to watch. He started strongly and scored four podium finishes in the first five races. At Suzuka, a real ‘driver’s circuit’ where Verstappen’s natural gifts come into their own, he was within a tenth of pole. When his form started to dip, Red Bull thought the new contract would provide the support and boost he needed. Horner admitted Friday that it simply “didn’t work.”
That effort to back Pérez has put the team in its current position of trying to work out agreeable terms for his departure and ending an eight-season partnership of four seasons. Horner said there was “no immediate rush” to resolve the matters, but that a quick resolution would certainly suit all parties.
It would give Red Bull the chance to turn the page and put full focus on 2025 – and, assuming he gets the seat, would give Lawson the most time to prepare for the most formidable job in the world. whole racing: being Verstappen’s teammate. It’s a task Pérez warned about on Thursday, saying perhaps knowing which way the wind was blowing would be a big test for any young driver.
“As a young driver, being teammates with Max at Red Bull, I wouldn’t like to be in those shoes, if I’m honest,” said Pérez.
“People cannot underestimate the challenge this chair presents.”
Top photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images