Sergio Perez has paid the price for a disappointing year at Red Bull, with the pair announcing they have parted ways ahead of the 2025 season.
The Mexican was initially under contract for the 2025 season, having signed an extension in June with Red Bull.
Perez followed up the announcement with two DNF’s, having crashed spectacularly on the opening lap of the Monaco Grand Prix and later crashing out of the Canadian GP after a difficult race.
His form did not improve, only finishing as high as sixth at the Belgian Grand Prix having started from third on the grid. Perez would often struggle in qualifying which would put him on the back foot in races, leading to poor results compared to Verstappen.
In the final five races of the 2024 campaign, he only scored one point at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which caused Red Bull to lose the Constructors’ Championship.
While Red Bull did not announce his replacement, they did give a timeline on when that might happen with journalist Ronald Vording offering some insight on social media website X (formerly Twitter).
Sergio Perez replacement set to be announced this week
Red Bull issued their press release shortly after Perez confirmed the news, with a line at the end reading: “Further announcements regarding the Team’s full 2025 line-up will be made in due course.”
Vording claims the news about Perez’s teammate will come later this week, with The Race also saying that it is likely to be confirmed on Thursday.
“After the talks in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, it is now time for the formal confirmation: Sergio Pérez out after 4 years Red Bull Racing. RBR wanted to give him his ‘own’ announcement, so the press release from Verstappen’s new teammate (with Lawson on pole) will follow later this week,” wrote Vording.
This is likely due to the fact that teams will be shutting down over the Christmas period over the next couple of days.
Liam Lawson expected to be announced as Sergio Perez replacement
Exactly who will be replacing Perez is the next question, although it is likely that the team is lining up Liam Lawson to replace him having put him in at Visa CashApp RB for the final races of 2024.
Lawson did not appear on the official 2025 entry list that was published by the FIA last week, leading to suggestions that he could be in line for a seat in the top team.
He is said to be the favoured candidate over Yuki Tsunoda, with both Christian Horner and Helmut Marko disagreeing on whether to promote the Japanese driver.
The 22-year-old is seen as a better fit, although Marko has said that Lawson must improve in one area in 2025.
