Perez reveals when it became clear he was set to leave Red Bull F1

Sergio Perez has revealed the moment it became clear his Red Bull Racing exit was inevitable.

After joining the team in 2021, following previous stints with Sauber, McLaren, Force India and Racing Point, Perez struggled to extract the same level of performance from the Red Bull cars as his world champion team-mate Max Verstappen in 2023 and 2024.

Despite a disappointing level of performance in 2023, he retained his contract into 2024. However, as the team watched the constructors’ championship run away from it last year as McLaren and Ferrari overtook the squad, doubts were cast over the Mexican’s future with the team.

Speaking with F1.com, Perez revealed that it only became clear to him that his seat was in danger at the end of November.

“Everything happened really late in the season,” he said. “I wasn’t really expecting it to happen. It only became clearer once we were in Qatar, and we started to discuss and negotiate my exit of the team. It all happened very quickly.”

Speaking about his exit at the time, team principal Christian Horner said: “Checo, he’s been a fantastic member of this team. It’s been a tough year for him but he’s a great person and of course [he] played such a key role in the ’21 drivers’ championship, ’22 and ’23 constructors’.

“He was second in the drivers’ world championship last year, he’s won five grands prix in our cars. But he reflected after the season and we sat down and discussed it last week about what are the next steps, and he’s decided that he’s going to take a bit of time out.

“We’re sad to see him leave the team, but obviously it’s time for him to spend with his young family as well and reflect on what he wants to do for the future.”

Red Bull decided to replace Perez before his contract came to its natural end, which had been extended through 2025.

The Milton Keynes outfit evaluated RB, now Racing Bulls, pair Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda over the last few races of the season and ultimately opted for the former to take the coveted spot alongside Verstappen. 

Now, though, the team has replaced Lawson after just two disappointing grands prix and replaced him with Tsunoda ahead of his home race in Japan.