Perez Retirement Rumors Ramp Up Ahead of North American F1 Races

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Now that Daniel Ricciardo's midseason firing from Red Bull's junior team has been made official and the buzz around Max Verstappen's community service penalty for cursing has died down, the eyes of the Formula 1 paddock are turning back to Sergio Perez's seat at Red Bull.

Before the summer break, rumors swirled that Perez could be ousted mid-season as 2024 has exposed how large the gap is between him and his three-time World Drivers' Championship-winning teammate, Max Verstappen. Perez currently sits eighth in the WDC championship points, with all six drivers at Red Bull's biggest 2024 competitors — McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes — separating him from Verstappen at the front of the pack.

This year's races have made it obvious that the RB20 race car is not as dominant as the RB19 was, and Verstappen's continued success and performance has more to do with the driver than the machinery. Checo's performance, meanwhile, continues to fall below expectations in both qualifying and races.

There's pressure for Perez to stay on the rest of the year, as there are three North American races at the tail end of the F1 calendar: the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas; the Mexico Grand Prix in Mexico City, Mexico; and the newly added Las Vegas Grand Prix. As the only North American driver on the grid, Perez has garnished a huge fan base in the highly coveted market.

On Thursday, Sports Illustrated's Fan Briefings reported rumors that Red Bull and Perez are working together to announce his retirement following the Mexico Grand Prix, his home race. If the plan plays out, Red Bull hopes to win back some of the public favor by letting a beloved veteran leave the sport on much softer terms than occurred with the Ricciardo fiasco.

In an earlier interview with Roldan Rodriguez, first reported by Dazn, Perez addressed rumors around his future, saying while he's mulled over retirement, he decided he couldn't make that decision without giving it one last try.

"These past six months, I did think about it, but it took me three seconds to make the decision. In the end, it would be the easy route, after so many years to quit and kind of give up. I would never have forgiven myself," Perez shared.