Simply days after shedding his race seat at Purple Bull, it has emerged that Sergio Perez will stay with the Milton Keynes-based outfit in 2025 as he’s set to take part in quite a few present runs subsequent 12 months.
Purple Bull introduced final week that Sergio Perez will go away the staff with speedy impact because the Milton Keynes-based outfit and the Mexican driver have reached an settlement to half methods forward of subsequent season.
The choice put an finish to the hypothesis of current months, and implies that the Mexican driver will go away the Austro-British outfit regardless of the deal that might have seen the 34-year-old driver race for the staff till the top of 2026.
The Guadalajara-born driver joined Purple Bull in 2021, and helped his team-mate Max Verstappen win his first championship title that 12 months, taking part in a pivotal position on the title-deciding 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Nevertheless, he has did not ship a constant efficiency over the past couple of years. Perez has gained 5 races with Purple Bull, and completed second within the Drivers’ Championship final 12 months, however he has endured durations throughout which he merely struggled for outright tempo in qualifying.
After a powerful begin to the 2024 season, Purple Bull elected to increase his contract by an additional two years which might see Perez race for the Milton Keynes-based outfit till at the very least the top of the 2026 F1 season. Nevertheless, the Mexican struggled for tempo after his contract extension.
Though Perez is believed to pursue choices to return to Ferrari subsequent 12 months to race within the FIA World Endurance Championship with the Scuderia, Purple Bull staff boss Christian Horner has confirmed that the Mexican will stay concerned with the Milton Keynes-based squad by finishing quite a few demonstration runs in 2025.
Reflecting on Purple Bull’s choice to exchange Perez with Liam Lawson, Horner advised talkSPORT: “No, it’s a bit of totally different to that. Sergio has been with us for 4 years and, for the primary three years, he performed an enormous position within the staff and definitely that first Drivers’ World Championship.
“You’ve solely acquired to assume again to Abu Dhabi ’21, the position that he performed for the staff on that day; Constructors’ Champions in 2022/23; he was second within the Drivers’ Championship final 12 months.
“He’s simply had a very powerful 12 months this 12 months and we sat down final week – we’d clearly been speaking about it a bit of bit beforehand – and determined that it was proper for each of us, simply to step again, for him to step out of the automobile, take a little bit of time along with his household, work out what he desires to do.
“He’s nonetheless going to be concerned with the staff. He might be doing a few present runs with us throughout subsequent 12 months. But it surely was proper for him – as a result of it wasn’t pleasant for him both, getting all this scrutiny and strain and expectation each weekend.”
Pushed on to disclose how Purple Bull was capable of change Perez regardless of his current contract, Horner answered: “He had signed a brand new contract, however after all in these contracts [there are clauses].
“I’m not going to enter the small print of the contract, however inevitably there are stipulations, there are obligations between the staff and the drivers. We sat down and we talked it by. It’s about relationships and we’ve at all times had an incredible relationship with Sergio.”
F1GP United States
