Red Bull made the tough decision to drop Sergio Perez ahead of 2025 as the Mexican was consistently off the pace.
Despite a positive start, Perez struggled, finishing second at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix and in Saudi Arabia.
The Mexican driver began to struggle as Formula 1 returned to Europe, which was a significant reason why Red Bull slumped to third place in the Constructors’ Championship.
| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
666 |
| 2 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
652 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
589 |
| 4 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
468 |
| 5 |
Aston Martin F1 Team |
94 |
| 6 |
Alpine F1 Team |
65 |
| 7 |
Haas F1 Team |
58 |
| 8 |
Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team |
46 |
| 9 |
Williams F1 Team |
17 |
| 10 |
Sauber F1 Team |
4 |
Perez is being replaced by Liam Lawson, who is stepping up from Racing Bulls. He will have to adjust quickly to the Austrian team, and Lawson must adapt to the car’s sharp front end quickly.
Red Bull overlooked Yuki Tsunoda as the Japanese driver had some rants on the radio, although he cut out a lot of errors from his driving.
Tsunoda may have been unlikely to ever get the drive after Red Bull made one decision in 2022 that hindered his chances of promotion.
Red Bull extended Sergio Perez’s contract in 2022 which showed a lack of faith in Yuki Tsunoda
Perez joined the Red Bull team ahead of the 2021 season and picked up the pieces in Azerbaijan to win after Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton suffered misfortune in the closing stages.
The Mexican was also a critical factor in his teammate winning the world championship that year as he aggressively battled Hamilton in Turkey and Abu Dhabi.
READ MORE: Yuki Tsunoda shares what is not ‘healthy’ about his 2025 Red Bull situation
He was rewarded with a contract just before the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix, which may have shown a lack of trust in Tsunoda’s ability.
Journalist Mat Coch explained that Tsunoda hadn’t been seen as a worthy candidate to race for Red Bull in the main team.
He said on the Pit Talk podcast: “The Tsunoda thing, did they renew Sergio in the first place two years ago, whatever it was? It was done then, wasn’t it? Yuki Tsunoda has been there to satisfy Honda, basically. There are clearly issues as to why they don’t think he’s worthy of a Red Bull opportunity.
“I think we’ve heard some of those. I don’t know that we know all of them, but have we heard the same brashness, aggression, fiery temper from Liam?
“No, we heard him being forthright on the radio. Yeah, absolutely. But that’s what Red Bull wants. I don’t think Yuki has been treated harshly. The writing on the wall has been there for two or three years for him.”
Yuki Tsunoda needs to look for opportunities outside of the Red Bull programme
Since joining Formula 1 in 2021, Tsunoda has improved over his four seasons, but after being overlooked by Red Bull, he needs to move on.
The Japanese driver has become more consistent and refined his racecraft to be a more complete driver for the Italian team.
Racing Bulls operates as a junior team, so there is little room for improvement, while Aston Martin may be a better option from 2026 with works Honda engines.
Tsunoda still has a link to the Japanese manufacturer, but Fernando Alonso or Lance Stroll are unlikely to leave the team soon.
