Mexican F1 driver Sergio Perez is rumored to announce his retirement at his upcoming home Grand Prix.
Speculation has been mounting about the Red Bull driver’s future as he has struggled in comparison to his teammate, Max Verstappen. Though Perez signed a two-year contract extension with Red Bull, the whispers of his potential departure began to grow louder amid his underwhelming performances this season.
As F1 journalist Joe Saward noted in his latest Green Notebook:
"One interesting rumour in Singapore was that Perez and Red Bull have worked out a plan that will see him announce his retirement in Mexico, giving him a more gentle exit than being fired and will be less painful for Red Bull sales in the Americas.
"This would give Red Bull the chance to shop around for a new driver in 2025. Despite its expensive young driver programmes, Red Bull does not have someone ready to step up alongside Max Verstappen. Perhaps it will if Lawson really shines (a la Colapinto) but there is already all that Red Bull is out there shopping for the future.
"Christian Horner was talking the other day about George Russell, as he does not have a contract after the end of next year. There are still some who think that Verstappen might take off to Mercedes, but I think the price he will want to be paid for his services and the baggage he brings with him may make him less attractive than he might think.
"If it is down to money, Aston Martin has shown that it will pay whatever it takes to get anyone and so Max must be considered the next likely target, although he is going nowhere unless he can be convinced that the packages available in 2026 will be better than Red Bull.
"And we just don’t know. If you ask around at Red Bull, they seem to be very impressed with Oscar Piastri (as we all are) and they see chinks in the Woking armour, because Oscar’s manager Mark Webber is close to Red Bull and no doubt is intrigued by the question of how McLaren can keep two stars happy in the years ahead. That is a fair question."
Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing’s Team Principal, has not disguised his frustration with Perez’s recent form. He explained to the media after the Singapore Grand Prix:
“I think that we need to have two drivers firing on all cylinders.
“Checo had a good weekend last weekend [in Baku]. He had a tough weekend this weekend.
“We need to put some weekends together where you can see where McLaren are putting two drivers on the podium. It’s those big points that really make a difference.
“So, you know, we need to make sure that Checo goes as far off the field as we can get it, in terms of finding the right direction.”
Horner also commented in a separate interview during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, as quoted by Formula1.com:
“We’ve given a great opportunity to so many youngsters over the period of time.
“The Red Bull system does demand results and demand performance. Of course, Max is delivering. Checo [Sergio Perez] has been underdelivering this year. Last year, he did a good job, or good enough job to finish second in the [drivers’] championship and [for Red Bull to] be constructors’ champions.
“We’re having to look further down the road. We’ve got some great talent. We’ve got Liam Lawson on the bench. We’re not quite sure, looking at the likes of [Franco] Colapinto and [Ollie] Bearman and [Kimi] Antonelli, is he at that level? Only time will tell.
“We’ve got Isack Hadjar in F2 who’s been until recently leading that championship. We’ve got a very exciting young talent, that I’m particularly excited about, in F3, Arvid Lindblad. So, we’ve got depth in our junior programme, and that’s why there’s a natural point in time.
“We’ve got a gap now, but we just want to take time to consider, ‘What do those options look like for the future?’
“Look, we’re not afraid to go out of the pool. George Russell is out of contract at the end of next year. It would be foolish not to take that into consideration. There are other drivers, talented drivers, that will be out of contract as well.”
As the Mexico Grand Prix approaches, all eyes will be on Sergio Perez and the Red Bull Racing team.
