After fourteen seasons in the Formula One paddock Mexican ace driver Sergio Perez doesn’t have a job. The 34-year-old was given his walking papers ahead of Christmas in 2024, replaced by Liam Lawson, despite having a contract with Red Bull Racing to run with the team in 2025. Following the poor on-track performance that Checo mustered last season, it seems unlikely that he’ll ever be employed in Formula One again. He may have had some opportunities to shift teams earlier in 2024, but once the grid filled up with young drivers, his prospects were completely cooked. So what does he do now?
Sergio’s father, Antonio Perez Garibay, claims that his son isn’t done with F1 yet. “The best version of Checo Perez is yet to come. Everyone will be very happy and very proud. What Checo Perez did until now was this. What is coming next will be historic, I assure you,” he offered in an interview with SoyMotor.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Perez said in a conversation at the Leon State Fair. “It’s too early to tell you, to have an answer. Everything happened very quickly at the end of the season, so I didn’t expect it.
“Now I’m in an incredible, dreamy position, which I didn’t even realize I was in, so if you ask me now, I don’t know. I’m very happy with my life, very excited about what’s ahead.
“For sure, if I receive a good, interesting project, then I’ll definitely consider it and think about it. It will all come in its own time. For now, my priority in the months ahead is to have fun, do what I haven’t been able to, travel, be with my family…
“In the next six months I’ll make a decision on what I want for the next step of my career.”
“It’s incredible, especially at this time of year when you’re already thinking about the season and you can’t do anything anymore. It’s really cool because I’ve been doing this all my life. I’ve been in Formula 1 for 14 year and before that, I’ve been racing since I was six years old.
“So this is my first year since I can remember where I can decided what to do. It can be different plans, I can go, I can confirm a trip, I can go with my family and my children wherever I want. So the truth is it’s something that I’m enjoying a lot, and I’m really looking forward to what’s coming this year.
“The truth is that I am very calm, very happy, enjoying time with my children a lot, with my family, with my friends. And I think that I’m finally going to travel because in all these years I’ve traveled all over the world, but without knowing it. And so now I’m really looking forward to traveling, to getting to know different places, to do things that I haven’t done for a long time.”
That seems like the clarity of a guy in his mid-thirties with several million dollars in the bank and lots of free time. This doesn’t sound like the ambitious youngster who wants to make it big in open-wheel racing. Sergio sounds like he’s already done and ready to move on with the rest of his life. Maybe he’ll pick up another racing gig, maybe not.
The F1 paddock has a really short memory, and if you’re kicked out of the club for even a few months, you’re left behind. The Red Bull Machine has chewed up the grit and gristle that Sergio once had, and by kicking him aside in the 11th hour, has completely ruined his chances of ever getting in the cockpit again. I’ve always wanted the best for Mr. Perez, but after fourteen somewhat mediocre seasons in the sport, I think he has proven he doesn’t have championship-caliber driving in him. His time to prove himself has come and gone.
It might be interesting to see Checo run a limited schedule of endurance races for one of the factory-supported prototype efforts in IMSA or WEC, or try his hand at another open-wheel series like Formula E or IndyCar, but only for the sake of comparison. If he doesn’t have his head in the game, there’s no reason for him to ever get behind the wheel again.
Enjoy your retirement, Checo. You’ve earned it.