Perez misses out on emotional farewell, but a back door exit looms
Red Bull Contentpool
General
- Ludo van Denderen
He was closer to crying than laughing. As his F1 colleagues prepared for Q2, the clearly emotional Mexican walked past his home crowd to the media. There he needed to explain for the umpteenth time this season how things could go so wrong, how he was eliminated once again in Q1 and how he has found himself having a dramatic weekend. Could it have crossed his mind that he would be better off retiring?
While some fans in the packed stands of the Wiener Stadthalle shed a tear, Austrian tennis hero Dominic Thiem waved one last time to the audience. As emotional as it was beautiful. There could not have been a better way for his tennis career to end: With his compatriots and fans, at a moment chosen by Thiem himself.
Thiem - single Grand Slam winner - was a fine tennis player; world class, but not a legend. Yet he was and is one of Austria's most popular athletes. Like Sergio Perez is in Formula 1 for Mexico: not on the highest shelf, but an important figure in his own country. Unlike Thiem, however, the Red Bull Racing driver does not know when it is better to retire and to celebrate that farewell in style.
Perez appears to be keeping his word
For weeks, Perez had been rumoured to announce his departure from the sport during the GP weekend in Mexico. Max Verstappen's teammate himself denied it time and time again, and indeed it looks like Perez has no intention of leaving Formula 1 straight away. If only he had, you might say by now.
Perez is having a dramatic weekend in Mexico City at his much-loved Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The Mexican has qualified in 18th position. 18th, in a Red Bull. And yes, the RB20 is definitely not the RB19. But 18th? No way. And the worst thing is: This is certainly not the first time Perez has let his team and his fans down.
For now, Red Bull Racing is keeping a tight rein on the Mexican, but the tone has changed in recent weeks. Team principal Christian Horner and, in particular, external adviser Helmut Marko are more critical of Perez by the day, who with Liam Lawson now has someone who could just get his seat next to Max Verstappen for 2025. No matter what is in Perez's contract.
Red Bull threaten to push Perez aside
Increasingly, Perez has to think about Red Bull pushing him aside after the current season, that effectively would mean that the Mexican's career in Formula 1 is over. It would be similar to what actually happened to Daniel Ricciardo, who was sent away mid-season at their sister team Visa Cash App RB. The Australian had to leave through the back door, and the same could await the Mexican.
It could have been so much different for Perez. Had he said last Thursday that the Mexican Grand Prix was his last of his career, he would have been the centre of attention all weekend. Congratulated by his colleagues and fans. But no, probably for Perez too, that nice farewell will soon be out of the question.
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