Co-Author: Fernanda Álvarez
Sergio Pérez has vowed to carry on until the end of his current Red Bull contract, which runs until the end of the 2026 season. A 2-year extension was agreed earlier this season.
The 34-year-old laughed off a wild rumour that he was going to announce his retirement at the Mexican Grand Prix next month with a post on Twitter on Sunday.
It has not been the easiest of season’s for the 6-time race winner. Pérez started 2024 very strongly, scoring four podiums in the first five races, and he almost took pole at Suzuka with an unbelievable lap.
However, he has not been in the top 4 in a Grand Prix since Miami, scoring just 41 points over the next 12 rounds. Max Verstappen has scored 195 points in the same period.
Pérez was P2 in the standings following the race in Miami. He’s now P8 in the Drivers’ Championship.
His future looked very much up in the air after a very disappointing Belgian Grand Prix where he finished P8 after starting in 2nd, and there was strong suggestions Daniel Ricciardo could take his seat. Red Bull ultimately came out and backed Pérez the following day.
Baku saw Pérez excel once again. A podium was on the cards until his crash with Carlos Sainz. He thoroughly outperformed Max Verstappen that weekend, ending a streak of 33 successive qualifying losses. Monza also saw him much closer to the Dutchman, as the Milton Keynes-based squad had a shocking weekend regarding pace.
Christian Horner admitted they traced their current problems back to Barcelona 2023 at Baku, verifying Pérez’s complaints about how the car became far tricker to drive, even if Verstappen was regularly winning in 2023, and at the beginning of this year.
Speaking to Spanish F1 broadcaster DAZN in Singapore, Pérez was asked if he considered retiring following the difficult 18 months he has had on track.
The Mexican driver admitted he considered it, but that lasted only for a couple of seconds. Pérez wants to fight on and show his worth, ending his career on his own terms.
“These past six months I did think of it, but it took me three seconds to make a decision, because it would be the easy way out.
“After so many years… quitting and, in some way, giving up, I would have never forgiven myself.
“I want to finish my career when I want and not when someone else tells me to. That’s my main focus, to get to the point where I can decide my future, and go whenever I want to.
“Mind you, now I’m really motivated, I really want to continue in F1, I enjoy it, especially the good moments, you enjoy them a lot, but of course you have to learn to enjoy the bad moments too, and it’s a lovely challenge.”
Now in his fourteenth season in Formula 1 after making his debut with Sauber at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix, Pérez admits his career will not go on as long as Fernando Alonso’s.
The Spanish driver, who is 43, started out in F1 all the way back in 2001, and he is set to celebrate 25 years in the sport in 2026 as he has agreed a multi-year deal with Aston Martin back in April.
Nonetheless, Pérez is determined to at least continue racing in Formula One until the end of 2026. He will be 36 at that stage.
“I have two more years in my contract, and two years in Formula 1 is a lot of time.
“I don’t see myself racing, for example like Fernando [Alonso], I admire him a lot for everything he does at his age, but it’s not because I wouldn’t like to [continue racing after 40], but because I have very young children, I want to spend a lot more time with them and with this calendar it is complicated.
“But as I tell you, at least two more years, I’ll be here, but I don’t see myself in Formula 1 many more years after.”
