Sergio Perez’s four-year stint at Red Bull is at an end – and with that, his Formula 1 career appears to be over too.
The 34-year-old who started his 281st grand prix this year has been shown the door at the end of the season with two years left to run on his contract.
This isn’t unfamiliar territory for Perez: the same happened to him in 2021 when Racing Point let him go. But on that occasion Red Bull rode to his rescue. This time there are no vacancies on the grid for 2025.
Perez has lasted longer as Max Verstappen’s team mate than any other driver: Daniel Ricciardo walked after less than three years, Pierre Gasly was booted out after half a season and Alexander Albon lasted a year and a half. The team showered him with praise for the role he played in helping Verstappen clinch his first world championship in 2021 by delaying his rival Lewis Hamilton during the title-deciding race in Abu Dhabi.
Even three years on the team was still introducing him as the ‘Mexican minister of defence’ at their season launch. But Perez’s 14 years as an F1 driver deserves to be remembered for much more than the time he successfully played rear-gunner. Here are 10 of his best performances since his debut.
10. 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Grid: 1st; Race: 4th
Early in 2022 Perez appeared to click more readily with Red Bull’s first answer to Formula 1’s new ground effect regulations. He claimed his first pole position in Jeddah and looked on course to take victory until a poorly-timed Virtual Safety Car period helped Verstappen and the Ferrari drivers get ahead of him. He was therefore under-rewarded for one of his best performances in a front-running car.
9. 2013 Indian Grand Prix
Grid: 9th; Race: 5th
Perez’s McLaren stint was considered a failure at the time. However it wasn’t appreciated at the time that the team was heading into a slump which it has only recently emerged from: It was the first of eight consecutive seasons in which they failed to win a race.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
This was another race characterised by heavy tyre degradation: eventual winner Sebastian Vettel pitted for fresh rubber just two laps in. In a season when McLaren fell to fifth in the championship, Perez’s run to fifth in the Indian Grand Prix was their best result until the final race of the season, and one of few highlights that year.
8. 2011 Australian Grand Prix
Grid:…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…