Pit Debrief has learned from multiple sources that Sergio Pérez will depart Red Bull Racing following this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina as the team led by Christian Horner have decided his position is untenable.
2024 has been a brutal season for the Mexican driver. It started strongly as the finished on the rostrum in four of the first five Grands Prix.
Since his last podium finish in Shanghai back in April, he has scored only 67 points. In comparison, Max Verstappen has won five races in that spell, bagging 319 points in the process.
Heading to Abu Dhabi, Pérez is P8 in the championship, 277 points behind his Dutch teammate.
Despite finishing second in the standings last year, the gap was 290 points by the end of the year.
The 34-year-old Mexican has been outscored by 921.5 points by Verstappen since he joined the team in 2021.
Supporting him until Abu Dhabi
While he did not specifically say Pérez would be gone following the Abu Dhabi GP, there were enough hints from Christian Horner in his Qatar GP post-race written media session to suggest the Mexican’s time at the team will end.
The Red Bull team principal talked about supporting him until the end of Abu Dhabi only.
In Qatar, Pérez failed to finish the Grand Prix after he spun behind the Safety Car while in P5, and his clutch gave up as he attempted to get going.
“Look, Checo has had a very tough year and obviously the points tables are what they are.
“We’re very much focused on really supporting him to the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi.
“And then, obviously, it’s not an enjoyable situation for Checo being in this position with speculation every week.
“He’s old enough and wise enough to know what the situation is.
“And yeah, let’s see where we are after Abu Dhabi.”
Pit exit gaffe at the start of the F1 Sprint
In a quite embarrassing moment, Pérez was caught asleep as the green light went out at the exit of the pit lane for the F1 Sprint, allowing Franco Colapinto to pass him.
The 6-time race winner tried to justify it by saying, “we knew we were quite out and we wanted a big gap for the people ahead to have as much clear traffic as possible”.
However, Christian Horner quickly dismissed that explanation by stating how long they left him at the end of pit road to be ahead of the Williams, before he listed Pérez’s achievements at Red Bull.
“Yeah, I mean, look, we sent him to the end of the pit lane seven minutes ahead of Colopinto for a reason.
“But, look, Checo’s contributed a huge amount to this team in the four years that he’s been here. The World Championship that Max achieved in 21, the Constructors’ World Championships in 22 and 23, and obviously this year has been particularly hard.
“He’s won five Grands Prix for us and he’s had some outstanding performances in races like Singapore, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, to name but a few.
“So everybody holds Checo in the highest of regard and respect but obviously the situation that we’re in is as painful for him as it is for the team.”
A decision to be made?
Again, Horner hinted at Pérez needing to make the decision to leave Red Bull, and in all likelihood retire as his time in F1 will end.
On the information Pit Debrief has gathered, how the announcement will be communicated is the big question at this stage.
“Look, I’m going to let Checo come to his own conclusions. Nobody’s forcing him one way or another.
“I’m going to let him […] it’s not a nice situation for him to obviously be in.
“Well, look, we’ve got one more race this year, so we’ll throw everything at it.
“And yeah, hopefully he can have a strong race to end the season in Abu Dhabi.”
Colapinto not on Red Bull’s radar
Following a superb start to life in Formula 1, Argentina’s Franco Colapinto has found out recently how tough the sport can be as multiple crashes have hurt his chances of a 2025 F1 seat.
Red Bull had been impressed by what he did through to the Mexico City Grand Prix, but the very big crashes at Interlagos and Las Vegas blotted his copybook.
While Horner is convinced Colapinto will be on the F1 grid permanently some day, it will not be at Red Bull or Racing Bulls in 2025.
“I mean, he for sure is a talent that’s looking to earn his permanent place in Formula 1.
“We have a great pool of talent within the Red Bull Junior team.
“I’m sure Franco will find his way onto the grid in the future.”
Lawson or Tsunoda at Red Bull, Hadjar to RB F1?
Asked about Colapinto again, Horner discussed how teams will always look for talent, whether it’s inside their junior programs or outside it.
Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda will be promoted to Red Bull Racing in 2025 when confirmation is expected of the departure of Pérez later this month, while Horner namechecked their junior Isack Hadjar, a likely option for RB in 2025.
Heading into the final round of F2 in Abu Dhabi, Hadjar trails 2025 Sauber F1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto by half a point.
“Well, I think that you’re always keeping your eye on what the market is in all teams.
“But we have the strength and depth in the junior programme. It was good to see Isack Hadjar doing a good job today in Formula 2 as well.
“I think there’s what, half a point between drivers going into the final race in Abu Dhabi.
“Liam and Yuki [were] very closely matched in that race in terms of pace.
“So we’ve got a full stable of drivers.”
