Sergio Perez can continue his racing career outside of Formula 1 with a move to IndyCar the “obvious” move to make.

Off the back of an underwhelming F1 2024 campaign for Perez, the Mexican driver walked away from Red Bull Racing, making that his fourth and final season as team-mate to Max Verstappen.

Sergio Perez to IndyCar?

Perez ended the season with a 285-point deficit to Verstappen with Red Bull relinquishing the Constructors’ crown to McLaren, his departure from the team leaving his F1 – and indeed racing future – unclear.

However, ex-McLaren mechanic turned F1 pundit and commentator Marc Priestley reckons Perez could race on in IndyCar.

“Sergio Perez has a massive fan base and huge commercial support behind him,” said Priestley when speaking to Casino Uden Rofus.

“He can compete in another form of racing, IndyCar might be the obvious choice right now but it will come down to his personal decision.

“Sometimes, drivers come towards to the end of their long F1 careers and when they come to the end of their time in the sport, they might want to prioritise time with family. Perez has multiple options ahead of him though, I don’t doubt it.”

Perez’s exit saw Red Bull call up Liam Lawson from Racing Bulls as his replacement, the Kiwi next to take on Red Bull life alongside Verstappen with just 11 grands prix of experience to his name, with Isack Hadjar filling the Racing Bulls vacancy.

Red Bull has produced multi-time World Champions in Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel, as Priestley now waits to see if Hadjar could be the next Red Bull champion.

Hadjar finished runner-up in the 2024 F2 Championship to Gabriel Bortoleto, who joins Sauber for F1 2025.

“Isack Hadjar is the natural successor to come into the F1 program,” said Priestley. “We’ll get to know more about him in an F1 car and see if he has the potential to be a future F1 World Champion.

“It’s a great chance for Hadjar.”

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Red Bull driver programme boss Helmut Marko is already preparing for life without Verstappen, the Dutchman contracted until the end of 2028 and never shy to drop a retirement hint.

And it is British teenager Arvid Lindblad – to make his F2 debut with Campos in 2025 – who has caught Marko’s attention.

“It’s a great pleasure and enjoyment to work with Max, but Max won’t drive forever,” said Marko on the Inside Line F1 podcast. “Especially not as long as [Fernando] Alonso or [Lewis] Hamilton are doing.

“And the junior team prospect [sic] is to find new talents. And we are not looking for a new Max. We’re looking for a new champion.

“I think the next one which looks really promising is Arvid Lindblad.

“And in his first year, or always in Formula 4, even if he didn’t win the championship, the same applies to F3, he could have won the championship, but circumstances and so on, but what is making him outstanding, is his pure speed.

“In one of the Formula 3 races [at Silverstone], he overtook, in one lap, I don’t know, 10 or 14 other drivers. He won the race from being last in these tricky conditions, wet, dry and so on.

“If I look back, I met him first in Portimão. Portimão have a very attractive go-kart circuit and we had a Formula 1 race and I met him and his father. And it was Arvid who was leading the conversation, with 12 years or so [of age]. So that also was something which is not normal!

“But he had a clear vision and a clear way how to achieve it, and since then he moved steadily forward.”

Alongside his F2 campaign, Lindblad will also appear in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship, looking to win the title and boost his FIA Super Licence points, and if he proves a front-runner in F2, he could enter the conversation for an F1 2026 Racing Bulls seat.

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