The complications and negotiations behind Perez’s Red Bull exit

It had been pretty clear for a while that Sergio Perez would not be a part of Red Bull’s future in Formula 1 off the back of his troubled 2024 campaign.

However, what was not so obvious was exactly how the parting of ways would play out because of the complications caused by him having a firm contract.

That was the result of the decision made by Red Bull in June to hand Perez a two-year extension for 2025 and 2026 in a move the team thought would settle him down.

As Red Bull team boss Christian Horner admitted earlier this month about that call: “We elected to go early – which obviously didn’t work. That’s just life sometimes.”

Once committed to it though, there was no way Red Bull could change its mind and simply decide itself that it preferred to do something different.

In the big money world of F1, drivers and their managers do not simply agree to rip up multi-million pound contracts and walk away without some form of deal being put on the table.

And a chief weapon in Perez’s armoury was his veteran manager Julian Jakobi, who is well known for driving a hard bargain having worked with the likes of Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Jacques Villeneuve in his lengthy career in F1.

Red Bull was well aware of the contractual situation over the closing stages of the season, when it was clear on performance grounds that it wanted to make a change but equally understood there were other factors that clouded the situation.

It knew it needed Perez to concede ground himself about the realities of the situation he was in.

Achieving the desired outcome is never straightforward though because, when it comes to reaching a deal to end contracts, there is an obvious game that is played by the two sides. If you are the one that you know the other party wants to get rid of, then it is best to repeatedly make it clear that you have every intention of seeing things out. You see this happen time and again when people know that there is a chance they are going to be moved on – so they dig their heels in.

One famous example was at the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix, when then Aston Martin boss Otmar Szafnauer’s days were numbered as he became linked with a switch to Alpine. Speaking in a press conference that weekend and asked about his future, his stance was defiant but specific in its wording: “I’ve been at the team for 12 years, I have no…