F1 Rumor: Red Bull To Announce Sergio Perez Retirement Imminently

Red Bull Racing is rumored to announce Sergio Perez's retirement soon according to F1 journalist Joe Saward.

Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing prepares to drive in the garage during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on June 30, 2023 in Spielberg, Austria. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) / Red Bull Content Pool

Red Bull Racing and Sergio Perez are reportedly set to announce the Mexican driver's retirement, with the official declaration likely occurring during his upcoming home Grand Prix. The rumored plan for Perez’s exit is designed to offer a "gentler exit," aiming to minimize any adverse impact on Red Bull's market share, particularly in the Americas.

This comes after Perez has struggled to find a similar performance from the Red Bull F1 cars to his teammate three-time champion Max Verstappen. Although Perez has signed a two-year contract extension with the team on a 1+1 basis, it has been rumored that he is set to leave the team, especially after McLaren overtook the Austrian team in the Constructors' Standings.

Commenting on the rumors in the latest edition of his Green Notebook, F1 journalist Joe Saward explained:

"One interesting rumour in Singapore was that Perez and Red Bull have worked out a plan that will see him announce his retirement in Mexico, giving him a more gentle exit than being fired and will be less painful for Red Bull sales in the Americas.

"This would give Red Bull the chance to shop around for a new driver in 2025. Despite its expensive young driver programmes, Red Bull does not have someone ready to step up alongside Max Verstappen. Perhaps it will if Lawson really shines (a la Colapinto) but there is already all that Red Bull is out there shopping for the future.

"Christian Horner was talking the other day about George Russell, as he does not have a contract after the end of next year. There are still some who think that Verstappen might take off to Mercedes, but I think the price he will want to be paid for his services and the baggage he brings with him may make him less attractive than he might think.

"If it is down to money, Aston Martin has shown that it will pay whatever it takes to get anyone and so Max must be considered the next likely target, although he is going nowhere unless he can be convinced that the packages available in 2026 will be better than Red Bull.

"And we just don’t know. If you ask around at Red Bull, they seem to be very impressed with Oscar Piastri (as we all are) and they see chinks in the Woking armour, because Oscar’s manager Mark Webber is close to Red Bull and no doubt is intrigued by the question of how McLaren can keep two stars happy in the years ahead. That is a fair question."

Saward referred to Horner's recent comments confirming that Red Bull was willing to look outside of its own pool of development drivers. He explained during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, as previously reported by Sports Illustrated:

“We’ve given a great opportunity to so many youngsters over the period of time.

“The Red Bull system does demand results and demand performance. Of course, Max is delivering. Checo [Sergio Perez] has been underdelivering this year. Last year, he did a good job, or good enough job to finish second in the [drivers’] championship and [for Red Bull to] be constructors’ champions.

“We’re having to look further down the road. We’ve got some great talent. We’ve got Liam Lawson on the bench. We’re not quite sure, looking at the likes of [Franco] Colapinto and [Ollie] Bearman and [Kimi] Antonelli, is he at that level? Only time will tell.

“We’ve got Isack Hadjar in F2 who’s been until recently leading that championship. We’ve got a very exciting young talent, that I’m particularly excited about, in F3, Arvid Lindblad. So, we’ve got depth in our junior programme, and that’s why there’s a natural point in time.

“We’ve got a gap now, but we just want to take time to consider, ‘What do those options look like for the future?’

“Look, we’re not afraid to go out of the pool. George Russell is out of contract at the end of next year. It would be foolish not to take that into consideration. There are other drivers, talented drivers, that will be out of contract as well.”