In a not-unexpected team change, F1 driver Sergio Perez will leave the F1 Red Bull Racing team at the end of 2024. Red Bull management held the decision until after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but Perez had performed poorly for most of the second half of the 24-event 2024 Formula 1 season.
A difficult season for Perez and Red Bull
Perez was four-time World Champion driver Max Verstappen’s teammate for four years. His best year was 2023, and Perez started strong in 2024. Red Bull renewed his driver contract in early June for two more years.
Unfortunately, after the extension, Perez’s performance suffered. During the season, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner repeatedly stated that he still believed Checo, the driver’s nickname, would get out of his slump and resume making substantial contributions to the team Constructors’ Championship points total. But it didn’t happen.
Verstappen won the Drivers’ Championship handily, but his points alone, plus Perez’s early season points, were not enough for Red Bull to win the Contstructors’ Championship. McLaren and Ferrari both finished ahead of Red Bull because, on those teams, both drivers finished races with consistently high positions.
For Red Bull, winning the Constructor’s title, which it did in 2022 and 2023, includes a massive financial award. Each of the ten F1 teams receives monetary awards at the end of the season, but the difference in payout between places in the finishing order can be tens of millions of dollars. Red Bull came in third this year despite Verstappen’s huge driver points margin.
Checo is a popular driver among the F1 community and fans, but F1 management has not been able to keep him in the seat.
What happens next to Perez and Red Bull
Red Bull Racing subsequently announced that Liam Lawson, a young driver who replaced Daniel Ricciardo on Red Bull’s second team, RB Honda, will be the second driver for Red Bull during the 2025 season. That leaves an opening on the RB Honda team, with Izack Hadjar, a likely candidate, as the second driver.
Carlos Sainz had a disappointing season for Red Bull and himself, but he’s a proven Grand Prix winner and still finished eighth out of 20 in the Drivers’ Championship. The odds are pretty good that he will drive for another F1 team, though perhaps not at the beginning of the 2025 season.
