Perez speaks out

As Red Bull continue to make changes, the man who was Max Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, has spoken for the first time since his demotion.

For the first time since 2010, the Mexican is not on the F1 grid after being dropped by Red Bull at the end of 2024.

It brought an end to a four-year stint as Verstappen’s teammate where Perez collected five of his six Grand Prix wins.

The highlight was the 2023 season where he scored two wins on his way to second in the championship.

But after a significant step backwards last year falling to eighth in the standings, Perez found himself ousted by Red Bull in favour of Liam Lawson, who was already on the chopping block in record time with Yuki Tsunoda now in the seat ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.

Since then the 35-year-old has taken a break from motorsport, but it may not be for long.

In his first chat of 2025, Perez told F1.com’s Lawrence Barretto he is already in contact with “a few teams” about a potential return.

“If I find a project that motivates me fully to come back, where the team believe in me and where they appreciate my career, my experience and everything I can bring to a team, it would be very attractive to consider it,” he said.

“That’s why I’ve given myself at least six months to get all my options on the table and make a decision on what I do next with my career.

“There are a few very interesting projects out there. I’ve been approached by a few teams since Abu Dhabi.

“Right now, the season has started so a few things will open up in the coming months.”

Reflecting on Red Bull’s decision to part ways despite having two years left on his contract, Perez admitted it caught him off guard.

“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.

“It’s been great to have this amount of time to step back a bit, see the sport from the outside and be able to realise the journey that I’ve had so far in many areas.

“I feel like I’m in a privileged position with my career, knowing that I’ve always maximised all my opportunities and that to me as an athlete.”

Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

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