Red Bull Racing have confirmed that Sergio Perez will no longer drive for the Milton Keynes-based team.

Perez leaves Red Bull after four seasons together, with an agreement to release the Mexican driver from his contract announced today (18/12) after several weeks of speculation that he was set to leave the team.

The 34-year-old has been dropped despite initially signing a contract extension in June for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, with a long period of poor form seeing his position ultimately become untenable and the team decide to drop him.

Red Bull has not confirmed who it will replace Perez with. It is strongly rumoured that Liam Lawson is set to earn a promotion from Red Bull’s second team VCARB to replace him, although team-mate Yuki Tsunoda did impress the team in a test at Abu Dhabi after the final race of the 2024 season. French driver, Red Bull junior and Formula 2 runner-up Isack Hadjar is reportedly set to be promoted to fill the seat of whichever one of Tsunoda or Lawson moves into the senior Red Bull Racing squad.

Perez had won five races for Red Bull, winning one race in 2021 and two each in 2022 and 2023, as part of 29 podiums overall after joining the team from Racing Point. He finished fourth in the driver’s championship in his first season with the team, third in his second and second in his third.

But poor form saw him finish in eighth place in 2024, finishing 285 points behind world champion team-mate Max Verstappen, with many seeing this form as the reason why Red Bull only finished third in the Constructor’s Championship, 77 points behind champions McLaren.

The Mexican failed to score a podium after the fifth race of the season, managing only two finishes in the top six after that race in China and only one after F1’s summer break.

In a statement published by Red Bull, he said, “I’m incredibly grateful for the past four years with Oracle Red Bull Racing and for the opportunity to race with such an amazing Team. Driving for Red Bull has been an unforgettable experience and I’ll always cherish the successes we achieved together. We broke records, reached remarkable milestones, and I’ve had the privilege of meeting so many incredible people along the way.

“A big thank you to every person in the Team from the management, engineers and mechanics, catering, hospitality, kitchen, marketing and communications, as well as everyone at Milton Keynes, I wish you all the best for the future. It has also been an honour to race alongside Max as a teammate all these years and to share in our success.

“A special thank you to the fans around the world, and especially to the Mexican fans for your unwavering support every day. We’ll meet again soon. And remember…Never give up.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal and CEO of Oracle Red Bull Racing, added, “I would like to thank Checo for all he has done for Oracle Red Bull Racing over the past four seasons. From the moment he joined in 2021 he proved himself to be an extraordinary Team player, helping us to two Constructors’ titles and to our first 1-2 finish in the Drivers’ championship. His five wins, all on street circuits, were also a spectacular mark of his determination to always push to the limit. While Checo will not race for the Team next season, he will always be an extremely popular Team member and a treasured part of our history. Thank you, Checo.”