Sergio Perez has broken his silence after reportedly leaving Red Bull Racing on the back of a dismal 2024 season.
The 34-year-old endured a torrid year, finishing eighth in the driver's standings and a massive 285 points off teammate and world champion Max Verstappen.
Throughout the season, speculation about the Mexican's future continued to ramp up due to his poor form.
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Due to Perez's failure to keep up with the likes of Verstappen, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, Red Bull also lost out on the constructor's title, which was won by McLaren.
On Wednesday afternoon, it was claimed that Perez had left Red Bull.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Perez has confirmed that he will be leaving the Red Bull team, with Liam Lawson front of the queue to take over as Verstappen's teammate.
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The report stated: "Sergio Perez has today confirmed the long-anticipated news that he is leaving Red Bull, opening the way for Liam Lawson to take the hottest seat in Formula One – as Max Verstappen's team-mate."
Speaking about his time with the team, Perez said: "I'm incredibly grateful for the past four years with Red Bull. We broke records and reached remarkable milestones."
Meanwhile, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner labelled Perez as an “extraordinary team player”.
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Speaking recently about the possibility of partnering with four-time world champion Verstappen, 22-year-old Lawson said to Planet F1: "You can always look at it as an outsider and think ‘this is what it looks like they felt’.
"But I don’t know what it was like for them. I believe, for anybody to go up against Max, you have to be realistic and know that he’s the fastest guy on the grid right now, and that you’re not gonna be out-qualifying the guy by half a second."
He added: "It’s not gonna be something that’s really gonna be happening. For me, it’s more the opportunity that’s there to learn from the best."
Topics: Red Bull Racing, Formula 1, Max Verstappen
Marcus Chan