F1 2024: Sergio Perez's Uncertain Future: Will He be Dropped on December 9?

mobilinanews (UEA) - One day after the Abu Dhabi GP, precisely on Monday (9 December), there will be a crucial and tense meeting between Red Bull Racing's (RBR) top officials and Sergio Perez. His future as a driver will be on the agenda.

The RBR officials attending this meeting will be Senior Advisor Helmut Marko and Team Principal Christian Horner. Several media outlets, including ESPN, have confirmed that this meeting concerns Perez's future, which has been uncertain in recent months.

This uncertainty stems from his poor performance throughout the 2024 season. He has never finished in the top 6 since the GP Miami series. As a result, he has slipped to 8th place in the driver standings with a 277-point deficit to Max Verstappen, who won his fourth F1 world championship this season.

Perez's meager point contribution has also cost RBR the constructors' world championship, which they now hold in third place, trailing McLaren and Ferrari.

This situation is detrimental to Perez. At the end of last year's season, he was on the cusp of being replaced by the team, despite having a contract until 2025 with an option to extend until 2026. However, Verstappen's defense and financial considerations related to Perez's Mexican sponsor ultimately prevented this from happening.

It now appears that there's no going back. The meeting on 9 December is expected to be the end of Perez's career with RBR, although Horner has avoided the term 'sacking'.

"I want Checo (Perez's nickname) to make his own conclusions and decisions," Horner said mid-season, highlighting that the team was currently only operating with one foot, needing to be corrected.

"Right now, he's having a tough time. But we haven't forgotten that Checo contributed to our constructors' world championships in 2022 and 2023," said Horner, not mentioning the 2023 season, as Verstappen's points alone had surpassed the total points of Mercedes.

Indications of Perez's sacking are further reinforced by Marko's junior driver, Isack Hadjar. First, by promoting Liam Lawson, who was surprisingly appointed as Daniel Ricciardo's replacement in the RB team back in September, and now planning to promote Hadjar, who competes in F2, to F1 to replace Lawson, partnering Yuki Tsunoda.

ESPN suggests that several sources confirm Lawson will replace Perez as Verstappen's teammate next season, while Isack will become the RB team's junior driver, taking over Lawson's place at the F1 level.

Another rumor suggests Perez won't be sacked immediately. He may be offered a role as the team's ambassador, similar to Ricciardo, who rejected this offer. Another speculation is that even if RBR drops Perez, he remains in the F1 circle and is seen as the top candidate to join team Cadillac (General Motors), the American automaker joining the F1 competition from 2026. Perez is a suitable fit for this team given his high popularity in the Americas.