Red Bull will have to pay Sergio Perez off if they decide to drop him from their 2025 driver line-up. That’s after the Mexican signed a contract for next year back in June.
At the time, Red Bull hoped the new deal would boost Perez’s confidence, whose form had started to waver after a solid start. But they must now regret their decision.
It appears Christian Horner can’t activate a performance clause to part with the 34-year-old. Instead, he’ll have to supply his 2025 wages.
Perez is a whopping 277 points behind Max Verstappen ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The record margin between teammates is 290 – set by Perez last year.
As such, he can’t hide from the reality that he’s cost his team the constructors’ championship. And yet, Perez has failed to take ownership of his struggles.
Firing the 280-race driver will be expensive. But it’s clear that Red Bull have come to view his position as untenable.
Sergio Perez is asking for less than half Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren compensation
According to ESPN Deportes, Red Bull will have to assume all or part of Perez’s $14m (or £11m) salary for the 2025 season. They will also incur a penalty for releasing him when there are no other seats up for grabs on the F1 grid.
RB have a spot available, but there’s no indication that Perez will slot into the nominal junior team. His contract included an option for 2026, and he also wants that recognised in his compensation.
But the report also points out that McLaren paid up to $30m (£23.6m) to end Daniel Ricciardo’s contract at the end of the 2022 season. Ricciardo, an accomplished Grand Prix winner, had fallen hopelessly short of his team’s expectations.
Zak Brown was so desperate to sign Oscar Piastri and move on from the Australian that he approved a giant payout. Ricciardo later lost his RB seat midway through the season, though it’s unclear if there was a clause in his contract allowing a clean break.
Why Red Bull are set to reject Franco Colapinto payday if they axe Sergio Perez
Red Bull shareholders will meet on the Monday after the Abu Dhabi GP to make a final decision on the second seat. But that increasingly sounds like a formality.
The bigger question is whether they will hire Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda to replace him. Red Bull have doubts about Tsunoda but it’s hard to argue he hasn’t been the most impressive RB driver in 2024.
Franco Colapinto has fallen out of contention, according to multiple reports. Colapinto brings a £25m sponsorship package, which would have helped Red Bull absorb the cost of Perez’s exit.
But recent races have arguably shown that he isn’t ready for a top seat. He’s crashed three times in three weekends, four if you include the start of the Qatar GP – though that incident wasn’t his fault.
