Sergio Perez has had quite a disappointing season so far in 2023, failing to come anywhere close to his teammate, Max Verstappen. Amidst intense speculations regarding his Red Bull seat for 2024, a fan on Reddit recently revealed how an ex-employee of Perez’s biggest sponsor, Escuderia Telmex, claimed that the Mexican driver may announce his retirement during his home race this season.
The 2023 season got off to a good start for Perez, and four races in, he was on equal footing with his teammate, with both of them having two wins each. However, ever since then, it has only gone downhill for the former Racing Point driver. He has come under extreme criticism from the F1 world for failing to put in consistent performances and being way off the pace compared to his teammates.
His seat for 2024 at Red Bull was always under threat given the poor performance, however, the fan on Reddit revealed that Perez is out of options when it comes to seats available for him, and therefore the 6 times race winner has apparently chosen retirement instead.
A possible farewell for Sergio Perez at the Mexican GP
As per u/chidi-annakendrik on Reddit, a high-ranking individual who used to work on the sponsorship deals for Escuderia Telmex till 2022 revealed the details regarding Perez’s decision to apparently retire from the sport by the end of this season. The ex-employee claimed that Red Bull has already informed Perez that they won’t be continuing with him for 2024.
Perez’s team immediately started looking for alternative options, but there aren’t any seats available for the next season, barring one at Williams. And even then, the 2023 season has caused huge damage to Perez’s reputation, and most of the teams consider him to be a mid-level driver who has passed his peak.
Therefore, Perez’s team has now decided that the best option for the Red Bull driver would be to retire from the sport altogether. The person also speculated that since Telmex has been at the center of this decision, there might be a farewell celebration organized by the Mexican GP organizers. However, all of the speculations are just on the basis of a fan on Reddit, and no official confirmation regarding the same has been made by any of the concerned parties.
The possible replacements for Perez for 2024
If Red Bull indeed part ways with Sergio Perez, there are quite a few contenders for the second Red Bull seat. This includes the likes of Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson. However, the candidate with the best chance of making it to the seat beside Verstappen is Daniel Ricciardo.
Following his return to F1, the Honey Badger has been out with an injury but is expected to return soon. He has already been signed up by AlphaTauri for the 2024 season, and if he does move up to the Red Bull seat, it would mean that Liam Lawson, who has put in some incredible performances while being the replacement for Ricciardo, will finally get a permanent seat in F1.
