EXCLUSIVE: F1 star Sergio Perez urged to join NEW team after Red Bull axe

Sergio Perez, Checo Perez, Red Bull, Singapore, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

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EXCLUSIVE: Perez urged to join NEW team after Red Bull axe

Sergio Perez will leave Red Bull in 2025

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 20 December 2024 09:57

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Formula 1 star Sergio Perez has been urged to ditch Red Bull and find a new team after it was confirmed he will not be driving alongside Max Verstappen next season.

The 34-year-old has decided to take a sabbatical from Formula 1 following a nightmare 2024 which saw him finish eighth overall in the drivers' standings.

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Perez’s failure to deliver for Red Bull in 2024 also cost them in the constructors’ standings, as rivals McLaren and Ferrari surged ahead in the championship.

Perez has since been replaced by Liam Lawson, with the team announcing their junior star as Max Verstappen’s team-mate for next season.

Liam Lawson will line-up alongside Max Verstappen in 2025

Where will Perez move to after Red Bull?

While Perez’s 2024 woes have undoubtedly tarnished the Mexican's career, he has enjoyed a handful of impressive results at Red Bull.

Perez helped secure a one-two in the drivers’ championship last year, and enjoyed a memorable victory around the streets of Monaco in 2022.

Yet, these previous performances were not enough to retain his seat at Red Bull, with Perez’s confidence clearly dissipating throughout 2024.

Speaking exclusively to GPFans through Coin Poker, former F1 driver Johnny Herbert assessed Perez’s performances in 2024, and suggested that he should consider a move elsewhere in motorsport.

"Yeah, well, performances, Sergio knows they've been very poor. It's not as if it's his first season and he's got to find his footing," Herbert said.

"He's had more than enough time to do that, but when he first went in, he was better than he is now.

"So mentally, it does seem as if, again, Max has crushed him and his confidence has just totally been sacked.

"Now this is not the first season, it hasn't quite worked out. It was definitely last year as well. Or since he's been there, he hasn't really pushed Max.

"He has every now and again. The beginning of last season, he actually started quite strong, but that sort of petered out.

"This year, it hasn't been there at all. And sadly, even from a driver's perspective, sometimes when you're in that scenario, it's better to get out and start afresh and go somewhere else, if you want to, and try and re-establish yourself, try and get that confidence back, which I think is lost massively at the present time."

If Perez does want to return to F1, he will have to bide his time, with only one seat vacant — at Red Bull's junior team VCARB — for 2025 at present.

2026 could be an option, however, particularly with an 11th team set to join the grid in the form of Cadillac.

Red Bull Max Verstappen Mercedes Formula 1 Sergio Perez Liam Lawson