Retirement might not be far-fetched for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez might be forced to retire from Formula 1 in the near future despite refuting recent rumors over potentially exiting the sport.
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Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)
Sergio Perez has raced for Red Bull since the 2021 season alongside Max Verstappen. Despite rumors of facing the axe, the Mexican driver has continued to play the role of second fiddle to the reigning world champion. However, Perez might be reaching towards a dead end in his F1 career.
Checo has accepted the role of being the number 2 to Max Verstappen. However, the Mexican driver has failed to deliver results consistently in helping the Dutch driver. This is a key reason for Red Bull falling behind McLaren in the Constructors’ championship this season.
Perez has publicly dismissed rumors of wanting to retire at the end of the 2024 season. The 34-year-old currently plans to continue his journey at Milton Keynes. Yet, there are chances that all paths for Sergio Perez ultimately lead to retiring from the pinnacle of motorsport.
Sergio Perez has no long-term future in F1
Perez made his F1 debut in 2011 at Sauber, before moving to McLaren in 2013 to replace Lewis Hamilton. After a woeful season at the Woking-based squad, Checo shifted to Force India (now Aston Martin). It was at the Silverstone-based team where the Mexican driver proved himself as one of the best drivers in the midfield.
Red Bull signed Sergio Perez for 2021 after he was replaced by Sebastian Vettel at the British team. Perez has spent four seasons at Milton Keynes, all on essentially on short contracts with the looming threat of getting sacked.
There is no secret that Red Bull is looking for a Perez replacement, initially with Daniel Ricciardo and now with Liam Lawson. The Austrian team will sack the Mexican driver the moment it finds a suitable candidate to partner Verstappen. This would leave Checo with no options on the table and as such he would be forced to say goodbye to Formula 1.
Moreover, it is unlikely that any team would be interested in the Mexican driver in his mid 30s with only a couple more seasons left in him. On the contrary, Sergio Perez could decide to retire on his own terms from the sport. Such an exit would be a much more graceful farewell for a race winner, something that even Daniel Ricciardo lacked at the Singapore GP. As such, Perez might just consider retiring from the sport at the end of 2025 or 2026.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2331 Articles Published)