Sergio Perez Leaves Red Bull On Mutual Agreement

 

Red Bull and Sergio Perez have agreed to call their relationship a quit as the season ended with the driver finishing in eighth behind his teammate and F1 championship title holder, Max Verstappen. 

Verstappen won the F1 title for the fourth successive time, but it was a difficult season for Perez. Unlike the previous season, Perez struggled to find his pace, and on some occasions, he had to retire from races, which effectively cost him the necessary points to stay in the title race. Consequently, he lagged drastically behind in the F1 standings. 

"I'm incredibly grateful for the past four years with Oracle Red Bull Racing," said Perez on leaving the team following an agreement between the two parties. 

Meanwhile, Perez extended his contract with Red Bull earlier this season owing to his impressive performance from last season. Since he will be leaving this season, there are speculations that Liam Lawson will be his replacement. 

Besides Perez, it was quite a challenging season for Red Bull drivers. Verstappen faced a strong challenge from Lando Norris following a winless run through eight races. After the Italian Grand Prix, he described his car as undrivable and doubted the team winning the constructors title. Eventually, McLaren won the constructors' championship title for the first time since 2008. Behind McLaren was Ferarri in the second position while Red Bull was third.  

Red Bull won the F1 Constructors' title between 2021 and 2023, during which Perez played a significant role. However, their car performance began to drop, leaving the team struggling amidst rising contests, particularly from McLaren.