Blaming Sergio Perez for Valtteri Bottas hitting him in Abu Dhabi, Renger van der Zande says the only upside for the Mexican driver is that “it is over now”.

And he’s not referring to the 2024 season, but rather Perez’s Red Bull career.

Sergio Perez’s Red Bull ending ‘really a bit sad’

F1 2024 was a wretched season for Perez as, despite being handed an early Red Bull renewal for next year, he failed to find a way out when his form hit a nosedive and finished the championship a distant P8 in the Drivers’ standings.

Scoring 152 and only four podiums, fingers were pointed at Perez when Red Bull lost the Constructors’ Championship and it wasn’t only pundits blaming him.

“We have to have two drivers who finish in the points,” Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko told DAZN. “Max is more than 200 points ahead of Sergio.

“For our employees, it is a disappointment because they will not receive their bonuses as those depend on our position in the Constructors’ Championship.”

Perez was closer to 300 points after back-to-back retirements in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, 285 points behind Max Verstappen who wrapped up his fourth successive Drivers’ title.

Perez’s struggles led to Red Bull’s higher-ups meeting on Monday to discuss their 2025 driver line-ups and whether or not they’d continue with Perez.

Marko said a decision “will be” made on the Monday but that it won’t be announced until later in the week.

Van der Zande though reckons it can only go one way.

Sergio Perez’s glaring deficit to Max Verstappen laid bare

👉F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

👉F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

“It is very sad, because he dropped out in Qatar, and now too. It is just over. The pressure was just too high, but it is over now,” the two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and Ziggo Sport analyst said.

“It is really a bit sad, if you look at what he has achieved. He has won Grands Prix, even with a Racing Point. He has helped Max to win, and he has won in Monaco.

“He has just lost it a bit. He is a really good driver, but this is not it anymore.”

He believes Perez knew that too when he retired in Abu Dhabi and would’ve probably taken a walk down the pit lane looking at his options. Red Bull though, have the only two teams with seats still available – Perez’s at Red Bull and one at Racing Bulls.

“Perez probably thought ‘I’ll immediately take off my helmet and walk to three or four teams in the paddock, to see if I can still find a deal somewhere.’”

In fact such have been Perez’s woes, the Dutch pundit believes it was the Mexican driver more than Valtteri Bottas who was responsible for his Lap 1 DNF.

Starting 10th on the Yas Marina grid, Perez’s race ended early when he was clattered into by Bottas with the Finn receiving a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.

Van der Zande explained: “A lot went wrong. Perez braked very early, like a sitting duck. They passed him left and right.

‘Everyone wants to pass him, and then at some point you get hit, and that was Valtteri Bottas, who actually couldn’t go anywhere.

“The fact that Perez gets hit here is because he brakes much, much too early. Charles Leclerc overtakes four men, because Perez thinks on his own: ‘I’ll brake fifty meters too early’.

“Everyone behind Perez is also standing still, so what should you do?”

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