Formula 1 News: Dumping Perez cost Red Bull 'millions'

(GMM) Splitting with Sergio Perez cost Red Bull several million dollars, team advisor Dr Helmut Marko has admitted.

Marko told sport.de that the Mexican played a big role in the team’s success in recent years, but then “something between the car and his driving style no longer fit”.

Perez’s successor is the inexperienced 22-year-old, Liam Lawson.

When asked why he was chosen, Marko said of the young New Zealander: “With his mental strength, Lawson is the one who is most likely to be able to hold his own alongside Max.

“Nobody can beat Max at the moment anyway. Liam will have to accept that Verstappen is the best.

“We’ll see how close he can get, but he shouldn’t get into the car with the aim of beating Verstappen. That has gone wrong with all of his teammates.

“He should be able to stay within three tenths of Max in both qualifying and the race. That should be enough to collect points for the constructors’ championship,” added Marko.

Verstappen’s father Jos has similar advice for Lawson.

“I wanted to be as fast as Michael (Schumacher),” Verstappen senior told f1-insider.com, “but I couldn’t do it with my limited experience at the time. That’s why I made mistakes. It was like banging my head against the wall.

“I told Max never to make that mistake, and I give Lawson exactly this advice now. Liam has to think about doing his best, think about himself and improve gradually, not try to keep up with Max at all costs.

“Liam and Max also have a more similar driving style, so maybe together they will be able to improve the car,” Jos Verstappen added.

Perez’s struggles undoubtedly cost Red Bull the constructors’ championship – falling behind not only the new champion McLaren, but also Ferrari.

Red Bull had to buy out Perez’s 2025 and 2026 contract, which was signed mid last season. “When you take into account the contract, the agreement was acceptable to both parties,” said Marko.

When the interviewer asked Marko if it cost Red Bull several million dollars, the Austrian confirmed: “We are in Formula 1, so yes.”

As for what comes next for Perez, Marko answered: “I think he still has hopes for Formula 1, although of course all the seats for 2025 are taken.

“If he sits out for a year, as a veteran driver there can always be new opportunities for him.”

Some days ago, Perez broke his silence on his split with Red Bull by saying he intends to do little else than spend time with his family for the first part of 2025.

“Within the next six months I will make a decision about the next step in my career,” the 34-year-old revealed. “It all happened very quickly. I had no intention of leaving the team.”

As for potentially returning to F1, Perez added: “It’s still too early to answer that question. I honestly don’t know.

“My biggest motivation now is to guide my children along the right path and be more present in their lives. But without a doubt, if a good and interesting project comes to me, I will certainly consider it and think about it. But everything will come in its time,” he said.

Lawson’s promotion to Red Bull Racing means Isack Hadjar will debut for the junior team Racing Bulls in 2025. “He is a very fast but also very impulsive driver, so that could be interesting for the team,” Marko told Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

“But you can see that we have clearly refocused on promoting drivers from our own Red Bull junior team. I am sure that this is the right path and that Hadjar will confirm this.”