Sergio Perez news LIVE: F1 latest as Red Bull axe Mexican driver and line up replacement
RB’s Liam Lawson is in pole position to take Sergio Perez’s spot alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing next season
Red Bull have axed Sergio Perez ahead of the 2025 F1 season, ending the Mexican’s four-year stay with the team.
Perez struggled to keep pace not only with world title-winning teammate Max Verstappen but also rivals from McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari, finishing eighth in the drivers’ standings. It also meant Red Bull finished third in the constructors’ championship and ceded their crown to McLaren.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the past four years with Red Bull,” Perez said. “We broke records and reached remarkable milestones.”
While Perez’s future is now in doubt, with no seat currently available on the grid next season, New Zealander Liam Lawson is set for a promotion from sister team RB to drive alongside Verstappen for Red Bull.
Follow all the latest reaction and F1 developments in the live blog below.
Sergio Perez’s next move after Red Bull exit revealed by Christian Horner
Christian Horner has revealed what Sergio Perez’s next move will be after Red Bull confirmed his exit following a disastrous 2024 F1 season.
The Mexican endured a torrid run of results this year as he finished eighth in the drivers’ standings – a mammoth 285 points behind teammate and champion Max Verstappen.
The 34-year-old’s sub-par performances ultimately cost Red Bull the constructors’ title as McLaren pipped Ferrari to the crown in the final race of the season, thanks to Lando Norris’s win in Abu Dhabi.
And Red Bull boss Horner has now explained what Perez will do ahead of the 2025 campaign, with no other seat lined up.
Sergio Perez’s next move after Red Bull exit revealed by Christian Horner
Perez has been axed by Red Bull after a torrid season in which he finished 285 points behind teammate Max Verstappen
Sergio Perez’s dreadful form cost Red Bull 2024 F1 title – the Mexican had to go
The beginning of the end for Sergio Perez at Red Bull was further back than you think, after the Mexican finally confirmed a predictable outcome on Wednesday following a disastrous season. For it was not the embarrassing Q1 exit in Hungary in July, after a crash in practice the day before. Nor was it the expensive first-lap crash on the streets of Monacoin the spring. Instead, it was May 2023, and a time when events were altogether rosier for the now dispirited Mexican.
Heading into last year’s Miami Grand Prix, Perez was being tilted as a genuine title contender. Or rather, given Red Bull’s car dominance, Max Verstappen’s only title contender. Both drivers had split wins in the first four races and on his favoured street track configuration, Perez took pole in Florida. Verstappen started in ninth.
Read Kieran Jackson’s full analysis:
Perez’s dreadful form cost Red Bull 2024 F1 title – he had to go
Perez has lost his Red Bull seat next year after a season to forget as Max Verstappen’s teammate
Liam Lawson is expected to replace Perez at Red Bull
Liam Lawson set to be promoted from RB to become Max Verstappen’s teammate.
Lawson, who replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB in September, has impressed since filling in for the Australian and The Independent understands Lawson will be the man to take Perez’s seat with the main Red Bull team in 2025 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda.
Sergio Perez confirms Red Bull exit after disastrous F1 season
Sergio Perez has been dropped by Red Bull for the 2025 F1 season – with Liam Lawson set to be promoted from RB to become Max Verstappen’s teammate.
The world champions, who extended Perez’s deal to the end of the 2025 season at the beginning of June, have made the change following a torrid run of results for the Mexican this year.
The 34-year-old, who has raced in F1 for 14 consecutive seasons, finished eighth in the drivers’ standings – a mammoth 285 points behind teammate and champion Verstappen.
Sergio Perez confirms Red Bull exit after disastrous F1 season
Christian Horner has axed the Mexican as Max Verstappen’s teammate following a torrid 2024 season
After the finale of the 2024 season in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, it is now only 94 days until we do it all again in 2025.
Next year has the potential to be an all-time great Formula 1 season. Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari is the main attraction, but there are also at least four new drivers on the grid next year – rookies Ollie Bearman, Kimi Antonelli, Jack Doohan and Gabriel Bortoleto.
Yet after Max Verstappen won the drivers’ title and McLaren claimed the constructors’ crown, both championships look wide open for next year.
The five burning F1 questions heading into 2025 season
Anticipation is already building towards the new season and the first race on 16 March in Australia
F1 2024 Season award: Rising star
Ollie Bearman
A debut of dreams for the British teenager in Saudi Arabia, filling in seamlessly for Carlos Sainz to score points on his F1 debut for Ferrari.
From that moment on, his 2025 seat at Haas was virtually secured. He took his chance. It did not matter that he finished a lowly 12th in the F2 standings.
Podium places: Gabriel Bortoleto; Franco Colapinto
F1 2024 Season award: Race of the year
Brazilian Grand Prix
A championship-deciding, drama-inducing weekend in Sao Paulo.
Heavy rain meant we had qualifying on Sunday morning and, such is the grid that formed, it looked set to result in a massive points swing in Norris’s favour. There were also five crashes in helter-skelter qualifying minutes.
But the race proved to be a masterclass in wet-weather driving from Verstappen. While others slipped and slid across the racetrack and into the walls, the Dutchman was the epitome of perfection.
Podium places: British Grand Prix; Austrian Grand Prix
F1 2024 Season award: Moment of the year
Lando Norris winning the Miami GP
This was a tough call. But Norris had been waiting for his first F1 victory for so long that, when it came, the jubilation was palpable.
It was also the first indication of McLaren’s rapid race-pace, setting up a thriller of a 2024 season.
Podium places: Lewis Hamilton wins British GP, Max Verstappen wins Brazil GP
F1 2024 season awards: Best driver, biggest shock and worst race
That’s a wrap. After a record-breaking 24 races, the 2024 F1 season concluded on Sunday in Abu Dhabi with Lando Norris guiding McLaren to constructors’ glory.
What a topsy-turvy, constantly evolving season it has been. From Red Bull’s dominance on the track and turmoil in the paddock at the start of the season to multiple winners and riveting racing, there has been drama at every turn.
For the first time since 2021, too, we had a genuine title race, and while Max Verstappen ultimately claimed his fourth successive world championship, Norris pushed him to the final three races.
F1 2024 season awards: Best driver, biggest shock and worst race
After a nine-month, 24-race season, The Independent selects the stars and moments that stand out
Who is Liam Lawson? The driver tipped to take over from Sergio Perez
As reported earlier, The Independent understands Liam Lawson will be the man to take Perez’s seat with the main Red Bull team in 2025 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda.
But who is the young New Zealand driver?
The 22-year-old joined the Red Bull junior team in 2019, and became the reserve driver for Red Bull in 2022. He later made his F1 debut in a reserve role at the 2023 Dutch GP, for AlphaTauri.
After Daniel Ricciardo was dropped after this year’s Singapore GP, Lawson took his place in the rebranded RB team, finishing as high as ninth in Sao Paulo and Austin.
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