A PARTNERSHIP’S END: The Lead-Up to Sergio Perez’s Red Bull Exit

The recent announcement made public by Red Bull Racing stating that Sergio Perez would not continue with them onto 2025 did not come as a surprise to many. Throughout the 2024 season, it was evident that Perez had struggled heavily, which was presented clearly in his results.

Having finished off the previous 2023 season in second place, bringing a record one-two finish in the driver’s standings home to Red Bull, the 2024 season looked to be another step forward for the Mexican driver. Perez started the season quite well, scoring four podiums in five races and shooting up to second in the standings, right below then-dominant teammate Max Verstappen. This was when Red Bull Racing team principal and CEO Christian Horner decided to extend the Mexican driver’s contract two more years to 2026.

Horner recently spoke out about this decision, saying that “[Red Bull] had elected to go early [with the contract extension] - which obviously didn’t work.” As Horner had said, Perez’s performances were only downhill from there, with disappointing qualifying sessions resulting in a multitude of race finishes with little to no points.

Starting off with a disappointing 8th place in Imola (Round 6/24), Perez rounded off the next 11 races with a just 51 total points, scoring points in eight of them. Comparing this to teammate Max Verstappen, who had scored an astonishing 177 points and three wins in the same 11 races, it was clear that there would need to be a step-up from the Mexican driver.

As luck would have it, Perez’s chance would arrive in the next race in Azerbaijan (Round 17/24). Being a winner and having scored multiple podiums here in Baku, it looked to be an opportunity for him to turn things around in the second half of the season.

The qualifying session went surprising well with Perez putting his RB20 up in the second row in fourth, starting behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. This was the step-up that Perez needed, especially since his qualifying skills were being put into question.

The race seemed to be going even better, with Perez having past the Ferrari for the final podium position. Towards the end of the race, it seemed that Perez even had the pace to challenge the next Ferrari up, Charles Leclerc for second place. Soon, the Mexican driver would make a move to overtake the Ferrari in second, but Leclerc’s defending move saw Perez fall back right back into Sainz.

The sudden defense by Leclerc seemed to lose Perez his momentum, as now Carlos Sainz had made a successful move to overtake the Mexican driver. Not wanting to lose out on what seemed to be one of his final chances to turn this season around, Perez did not back out, immediately making a move to retake the position from the Ferrari.

However, on a tight street circuit such as Baku, this proved to be a grave mistake. Sainz swerved to defend, a move Perez was not expecting. On Lap 50 of 51, with less than two laps remaining, the two collided and were both sent flying into the barrier, resulting in terminal damage and saw both drivers retire from the race. Perez’s miracle chance was gone, just like that.

Following the devastating Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Perez was not able to make another comeback let alone a single top-five finish for the rest of the season, rounding off the remaining seven races with a meagre eight points, only being able to score points in three of them. Contrasted to the 110 points and two wins scored by teammate Verstappen in the same seven races, it was clear that it would be a season to forget for the Mexican driver, ultimately ending his season off with a double DNF in Qatar and Abu Dhabi and finishing a final eighth in the standings while his teammate was crowned the World Champion.

For Red Bull, the most problematic aspect out of all of this would be the fact that they were unable to fight for the constructors’ title, finishing a final third in the WCC standings, their worst finish since the 2019 season. Following a double constructors title in 2022 and 2023, this was extremely frustrating as they were not even able to fight for the title in the final race in Abu Dhabi, having been knocked out mathematically in the penultimate round in Qatar. Ultimately, Red Bull scored 589 points, with Verstappen scoring 437 of them. As opposed to McLaren with 666 and Ferrari with 652, it was evident that there needed to be a change within the Red Bull team.

Although he had been crucial in Verstappen’s championship fight against Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton in 2021 and had been essential in securing a one-two standings finish in 2023, it was now evident that Sergio Perez was holding the team back not just race by race, but more importantly, losing them championships.

When spoken to by several different reporters, Perez was adamant that he would be continuing with Red Bull Racing for the 2025 season, stating that ‘people should stop asking those questions.’ However, team principal Christian Horner did not seem as confident that they would continue their partnership, further sparking the speculation rumours. Horner’s uncertainty implied that there would be action taken from the executive team sometime soon, despite the Mexican driver’s denial.

Eventually, on the 18th of December, shortly after it was announced that Christian Horner was awarded a CBE for contributions towards motorsport, Red Bull Racing and Formula 1 announced that Sergio Perez would be parting ways with Red Bull for the 2025 season. A day later, it was announced that RB driver Liam Lawson would be promoted to the senior team, with Formula 2 Vice champion Isack Hadjar taking his place in RB.

Horner commented that the exit from Red Bull “was [Perez’s] decision,” and that they respected it. The Mexican driver also announced his own statement, thanking the Red Bull team and wishing them the best of luck, honouring his teammate Max Verstappen, and finally giving a heartfelt message to his Mexican fans telling them that they would “meet again soon” and to “never give up,” his personal motto.

Both Horner and Verstappen replied with gratitude, with the team principal thanking Perez for “all he has done for Oracle Red Bull Racing over the past four seasons,” calling him an “extraordinary team player, helping [the team] to two constructors’ titles and [their] first one-two finish in the drivers’ championship.” Verstappen commented as well, posting on his Instagram a message for the Mexican driver: ‘It's been an absolute pleasure driving alongside you. We've had some amazing moments together that I'll always remember. Thank you, Checo!’

During his four years at Red Bull, Perez took five of his six wins and several more podiums. Finishing the drivers’ championships starting from 2021 in fourth, third, second, and eighth respectively, he worked exceptionally well with Verstappen and in Horner’s words, “will always be an extremely popular team member and a treasured part of [their] history.”

With the announcement of Lawson in the Red Bull and Hadjar in the RB, it leaves all 20 spaces in the 2025 grid full, and Perez sees himself out of the sport following 14 consecutive seasons in the sport since his 2011 debut with the Sauber.