Dec.8 (GMM) Red Bull’s top brass are staying quiet amid rampant and intensifying speculation about Sergio Perez.
Almost every respected specialist outlet and journalist in the Formula 1 paddock now agrees – the energy drink brand has decided to oust the Mexican driver and replace him with Liam Lawson for 2025.
The stumbling block is the new contract Red Bull and Perez, 34, signed earlier this season.
Team boss Christian Horner said he offered the deal to Perez “to settle his mind and extend his run of form for the rest of the season”.
“Obviously it didn’t work,” he added. “That’s just life sometimes.”
It is believed the only remaining talks between Perez and the team are how to deal with the issue of the 2025 contract. “Has Perez been persuaded to resign?” wonders veteran F1 journalist Roger Benoit, for Blick newspaper.
“The Mexican would probably stay with the team as a well-paid ambassador.”
If not, Red Bull will need to pay a hefty termination fee and cut all ties with the driver.
As recently as Saturday in Abu Dhabi, powerful team advisor Dr Helmut Marko was staying quiet. “The key people will meet on Monday,” he told Sky Deutschland.
“I can’t say when the press will be informed. I don’t want to anticipate all these discussions.”
But it is believed even the millions in Mexican sponsorship Perez brings to Red Bull do not compensate for finishing exaggeratedly low in the lucrative constructors’ world championship.
Perez qualified P10 in Abu Dhabi. When asked if he is happy with that, he answered: “Not really. But it’s a bit of a summary of the whole season.”
When asked if he is worried Sunday will be his last race in a Red Bull, and possibly in Formula 1, he added: “As I keep saying, no.
“I have nothing new to add to what I said before.”