Red Bull Racing has reportedly sacked Sergio Perez from its F1 seat to put RB driver Liam Lawson for the 2025 season. Although there has been no official announcement from the side of the team, paddock chatters appear to suggest that the Austrian team has decided on Lawson as Max Verstappen’s teammate for next season.
Perez’s underwhelming performances throughout the 2024 season cost Red Bull as the Milton-Keynes-based team failed to compete with McLaren and Ferrari for the constructors’ championship.
While Verstappen tried his best to push Red Bull, Perez’s struggles allowed McLaren and Ferrari to edge ahead. As things stand, the Christian Horner-led team has lost faith in the Mexican driver and Lawson will reportedly be his the replacement.
The Italian motorsport website Motorsport Italia on Friday claimed that Red Bull F1 team is expected to pair Lawson with Verstappen for the 2025 F1 season. The team transfer the New Zealand driver recently to RB by dismissing Daniel Ricciardo after the 2024 Singapore GP.
Lawson first raced this season for RB previously known as Toro Rosso after he was drafted in to replace the injured Ricciardo. He got an opportunity again this season and although there were flashes of his finest form.
Tsunoda, who is the most senior driver to Verstappen and Perez, is out of the picture, but Horner said that they have no plans to take Yuki to the top team, even tho he acknowledged Tsunoda’s large potential.
On the other hand, the Austrian team also cancelled the plan of having Franco Colapinto together with Verstappen. Rather recent rumours that have emerged placed the current Williams driver in Red Bull.
What was the performance of Sergio Perez in 2024?
Sergio Perez’s performances in 2024 have been subpar, at best, to even the most uncritical spectator. The Mexican driver is the only driver in the top four teams that has not won a race. Whereas seven other drivers are capable of scoring multiple victories.
Perez stands at eight in drivers’ championship with 152 points, 59 points behind leader, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. Another top driver and his teammate, Max Verstappen won his fourth F1 title in Las Vegas consecutively and is leading the ongoing championship.
There is a 277 points difference between Perez and Verstappen and this was never what Christian Horner, Helmut Marko, and Red Bull top officials wanted despite having the dominant RB20 car at their disposal.
Sergio Perez joined Red Bull from Racing Point at the climax of the 2020 season and supported Verstappen to clinch the inaugural title in Abu Dhabi. He effectively begins the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP from the 10th position.