Scoring just a single point as Max Verstappen wrapped up World title No.4, Marc Surer says Sergio Perez should’ve announced his retirement at the Mexican Grand Prix.
The F1 2024 season, arguably Red Bull’s most difficult in the ground-effect aerodynamic era, has seen two contrasting storylines play out at Red Bull as while Verstappen has won his fourth successive World title, overcoming the RB20’s balance issues, Perez has fumbled, faltered and has not been able to recover.
Sergio Perez should’ve quit when he had the chance
Off the podium since round five of the championship, Perez took some encouragement when Verstappen entered what turned out to be a ten-race streak without a race win, the Mexican driver claiming the RB20’s handling issues had caught up with his team-mate.
But even then the contrast in results was notable, Verstappen still achieving podium results while Perez struggled to even score points. They went into the summer break with Verstappen leading the championship on 277 points and Perez was down in eighth on 131 points.
In the eight races since F1 returned, Verstappen has broken his winless streak with arguably one of the sport’s best wet-weather drives at the Brazilian GP where he raced from 17th on the grid to the victory and scored 136 points. Perez has managed 21.
With his Formula 1 future under threat and Red Bull bringing in Liam Lawson to evaluate him as a possible replacement for F1 2025, the sport’s rumour mill claimed that Perez would announce his retirement at the Mexican Grand Prix.
The Mexican driver laughed that off, even posting a clip from ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ featuring lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio declaring ‘I’m not f*cking leaving’.
But if you ask former F1 driver turned pundit Surer, Perez should’ve announced that he is before he’s pushed out of not only Red Bull but also F1.
“He should have announced his retirement in Mexico,” the ex-driver told Motorsport-total.
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Although Perez signed an extension for F1 2025 earlier this year, Red Bull will make a call on his future after the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Motorsport advisor Helmut Marko says his fate in the hands of the team’s shareholders.
“There will be a meeting after Abu Dhabi and the result of this meeting will be presented to the shareholders. They will then decide what the driver situation for both teams will look like for next year,” he told ORF.
Dutch racing driver Tom Coronel has urged Red Bull to give long-time VCARB driver Yuki Tsunoda the opportunity to prove himself.
“It is almost no longer credible what is happening now of course,” Coronel told RaceExpress. “You know, Pérez is not a pancake. Really not. But Max is simply superior. I don’t think you want to be Max’s team-mate if you want to make a career.
“If you are going to look within the pool, I would put our Yuki in there. He has the most experience.”
Tsunoda is down to drive the Red Bull in the post-season Abu Dhabi test but that’s more of a Honda request than Red Bull actually considering for 2025.
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