Red Bull will confirm their driver line-up for the 2025 Formula 1 season this week. Months of uncertainty around Sergio Perez’s future will finally come to an end.
The consensus is that Red Bull have decided to drop Perez after his torrid 2024 campaign. He finished a chasmic 285 points and seven places behind teammate and world champion Max Verstappen.
The seat will fall to either Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda, who battled it out at RB over the final six races. That in turn will leave a vacancy at the junior squad, with Isack Hadjar set to complete the F1 grid.
Despite reports to the contrary, Perez maintained at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that he expected to be racing for the team in 2025. But his performance during the race weekend perhaps solidified Christian Horner’s desire to make a change.
The 34-year-old did make it to Q3, unlike fellow big names like Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. But even then, he was outqualified by midfield runners Nico Hulkenberg, Pierre Gasly and, worst of all, Valtteri Bottas.
Perez barely competed in the Grand Prix itself, losing drive on the opening lap after a spin during his scrap with Bottas. He scored just one point in the final five races of the year.
He’s consistently repeated the phrase ‘I have a contract’ in his defiant media appearances. But Perez may take on an ambassadorial role, rather than a racing one, if it means avoiding a pay-out.
Sergio Perez seemed to say goodbye to Red Bull staff at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Addressing the press after the race, Horner was predictably non-committal on Perez’s future. He knew Red Bull shareholders were meeting on Monday to cast a verdict.
According to Motorsport NL’s Ronald Vording, the team principal ‘mostly talked around’ the issue. However, both Vording and the Netflix cameras spotted something ‘curious’ happening ‘in the background’.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links: Drive to Survive cameras spotted Sergio Perez doing something curious ‘in the background’ at F1 finale
Perez was seen saying goodbye to team members. While this was the final race of the season, it seemed to be more than a traditional ‘winter break send-off’.
Instead, it looked as if he was thanking them for their contribution during his four years with the team. Should he lose his seat, this is likely to be included in the next season of Drive to Survive in the new year.
What Max Verstappen has said about Sergio Perez just before he loses Red Bull seat
Reports claim Horner and Helmut Marko have picked Lawson as Perez’s successor. That puts Verstappen up against a 22-year-old (soon to be 23) with just 11 races’ worth of experience.
While he should be comfortably faster than Lawson, he’ll hope that the New Zealander can at least be closer than Perez. He needs a supporting driver who can take points off rivals like Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen called Perez an ‘excellent teammate’ during the Abu Dhabi weekend. It seems unlikely that will sway the team’s hierarchy, if indeed he was making the case for continuity.
He’s been consistently supportive of the Guadalajara native during their partnership. Verstappen once ignored team orders at Perez’s expense, but that is one of the few flashpoints of the past few years.
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