Sergio Perez looks set to have his Formula 1 race seat stolen by a driver who he isn’t exactly friendly with.
According to ESPN, RB driver, Liam Lawson, will be promoted from Red Bull’s junior team to replace Perez for the 2025 F1 season.
After a poor end to 2024, with a dismal return of 21 points across 10 rounds, Perez’s future in motorsport’s elite hangs in the balance.
The Mexican only managed to finish eighth in the standings, despite his teammate Max Verstappen winning the title in the same car.
Perez trailed Verstappen by a staggering 285 points which cost Red Bull the chance to defend their constructors crown.
As a result, discussions between Red Bull chief, Helmut Marko, and Team Principal, Christian Horner, are said to have taken place over moving the 34-year-old out of his seat early.
However, the situation has been made more difficult by the fact that Perez signed a two-year contract extension in May.
Latest reports now reveal Perez’s departure is likely to be confirmed before Christmas following negotiations – with an ambassadorial role in 2025 on offer should the six-time Grand Prix winner not want to quit the team entirely.
His decision may be influenced by Red Bull’s chosen successor Lawson, who has just 11 races under his belt across two RB stints.
After the Mexico City Grand Prix, the New Zealander was jokingly advised by Martin Brundle to leave in a balaclava after an infamous clash with home favourite Perez.
Lawson gave Perez the finger in front of the latter’s fans when overtaking him on the main straight, in one of the many battles on the track between the two.
Perez himself was not impressed by the behaviour of a driver at Red Bull’s sister team and slammed his rival’s conduct post-race.
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“I think I don’t have any relationship with him,” he said.
“I think the way he has come to Formula 1, I don’t think he has the right attitude for it.
“He needs to be a bit more humble, you know. When a two-time World Champion was saying things last weekend, he completely ignored him.
“It’s like when you come to Formula 1, you’re obviously very hungry and so on, but you have to be as well respectful off-track and on-track.
“I don’t think he’s showing the right attitude to show a good pace for himself, because I think he’s a great driver and I hope for him that he can step back and learn from it.”
At the time, Marko said: “Checo was also very upset with Lawson. So I think we have to sit down and discuss it here.”
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Although Helmut does appear to have changed his tune, in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, he compared Lawson to legends of F1.
“Liam Lawson reminds me of Bruce McLaren or Denny Hulme, quite down-to-earth and mentally strong,” the Austrian said.
As far as F1 compliments go, that’s a huge one for Lawson given McLaren and Hulme are two of the greatest F1 drivers New Zealand has ever seen.
The former deputised for Daniel Ricciardo at RB last year and impressed in his five-race stint, scoring two points in Singapore.
Lawson was left without a drive this year but ultimately stepped in to replace Ricciardo permanently in September.
He has now been given the nod to partner Verstappen over his more senior teammate Tsunoda, who is set for a fifth straight season at Red Bull’s junior team.
Formula 2 runner-up Isack Hadjar is the driver tipped to join fellow rookies Kimi Antonelli, Jack Doohan, Ollie Bearman, and Gabriel Bortoleto on the 2025 grid.
Lawson meanwhile revealed during an exclusive interview with talkSPORT in June that he would have been forced to consider his options elsewhere if a move at Red Bull continued to be blocked.
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On whether he’d take a step away from his current team to be given an opportunity elsewhere, Lawson joked: “You know I can’t answer this!
“Honestly at the end of the day I would love to be with Red Bull and Formula 1, they are the strongest team at the moment and this is my sixth year with Red Bull.
“So if I could choose I would love to be with Red Bull, but obviously there is no seat there and my goal is Formula 1 so that could be anywhere.”
Official confirmation of Lawson’s move is expected later on Tuesday.