Sergio Perez is no longer a driver for the Red Bull Formula 1 team. The Mexican has to leave his job after poor performances in the recently concluded season.
18.12.2024, 18:22
18.12.2024, 20:15
SDA
The decision by those in charge of the beverage company's racing department no longer came as a surprise. Those at the top had to admit that they had acted prematurely by extending Perez's contract by two years at the beginning of June. In recent weeks, it has become increasingly clear that Perez will no longer have a place in the team led by world champion Max Verstappen.
His recent performances have been too disappointing and the performance gap between him and the Dutchman has grown too wide as the season has progressed. From Perez's point of view, the figures are sobering. He found himself in 8th place in the final championship standings, with a total of 152 points, which was only slightly more than a third of Verstappen's haul.
Perez had made a promising start to the season with three second places in the first four Grands Prix, but as the season wore on he was a shadow of his former self in ever more pronounced form. He became a laggard driver whose misery was ultimately the main reason why the Red Bull team lost out to McLaren and Scuderia Ferrari in the battle for the constructors' title.
Perez was Verstappen's team-mate for four years. This period was characterized by the Mexican's constant fluctuations in form. At times, he gave the impression that he could stand up to Verstappen and was a title contender - only to fail to live up to his own expectations.
Perez, who contested his first two seasons as a Formula 1 driver for the Sauber racing team, has six Grand Prix victories to his name. In this respect too, the comparison with Verstappen is frustrating. The four-time world champion has won 55 Grand Prix in this period.
There is no place for the soon-to-be 35-year-old Perez as a regular driver in Formula 1, at least in the coming season, and it is also highly doubtful that he will ever return to the most important racing series.
Liam Lawson is the first candidate to succeed Perez. The 22-year-old New Zealander has contested the last six Grand Prix weekends this year with Team Visa in place of the released Australian Daniel Ricciardo.
