Sergio Perez has arguably been one of the biggest winners of the 2025 Formula 1 season so far. And he isn’t even on the grid.
Perez was due to race for Red Bull this season after signing a contract extension last June. But when his form deteriorated, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko decided that they’d have to rip up the agreement.
Separation talks followed, and Perez agreed to walk away in exchange for a payoff. Red Bull took a risk by hiring Liam Lawson, who’d only started 11 races, as his replacement.
Perez’s averaging finishing position last year was 9.67, far below what the team would expect, but Lawson failed to score at all in his three races (including the Shanghai Sprint). A race-ending crash in Australia preceded a P14 and a P12 in China.
As for qualifying, Lawson failed to escape Q1 in three attempts, whereas Perez made Q3 more than 60% of the time. It now looks as if the issues at Red Bull may be more fundamental, rather than driver-specific.
Sergio Perez’s father claims Yuki Tsunoda won’t drive ‘the same’ car as Max Verstappen
Red Bull’s latest solution is Yuki Tsunoda, the driver they snubbed in December when signing Lawson. Speaking on the Formula de 2 podcast, Perez’s father suggested that the cycle that began with Pierre Gasly in 2019 would continue.
He alleges that Red Bull’s second car isn’t equal to the first. As such, if Max Verstappen were to jump on the other cockpit, he too would apparently face difficulties getting out of Q1.
Red Bull would, of course, respond that both cars are identical and that Verstappen, as a four-time world champion, is simply able to drive around the handling problems. But Perez Sr is nonetheless concerned for Tsunoda ahead of his home race debut.
“What I’m going to tell you today is going to cause a stir,” he said. “I can tell you that car one is not equal to car 11 [Perez’s old race number].
“If you bring the driver of car one to car 11, car 11 does not pass Q1. If you take the driver of car 11 to car one, he would run better.
“It’s the car. They are not the same. I hope that I’m wrong, and that Yuki in Japan has the best car that Red Bull can give him.
“He is in the home of Honda. It is the most important sponsor. He has to bring out his pride. They cannot fail the Japanese fans.
“They have to give Yuki the best weapons so that he can go out and fight. He has to have a very similar car.”
Helmut Marko’s conversation with Sergio Perez after Liam Lawson lost Red Bull seat
Mario Andretti says Lawson made Perez look ‘very good’ at the first two races of 2025. That’s particularly significant because Andretti is an advisor to the Cadillac F1 team, who offer the Mexican the most realistic route back to the grid.
Like his father, Perez expected Tsunoda to struggle if he got the seat. He didn’t want the 24-year-old to suffer the same fate.
Tsunoda is already targeting a podium at the Japanese GP, highlighting his self-confidence. His predecessors have arrived feeling similarly excited but left the team looking broken.
Perez called Marko after the Lawson news broke last week, though the Red Bull executive insists they only discussed non-racing subjects. At 35, the six-time race-winner must decide whether he wants to return to F1 with a midfield team where he might not see the full fruits of his labour.
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