Why Lawson will replace Pérez at Red Bull

Red Bull was never afraid to do things his own way.

Since 2005, no team has been so quick to make a driver change, and give a chance to another member of its abundant academy.

The departure of Sergio Pérez announced on Wednesday did not surprise anyone who followed this 2024 F1 season. The Mexican had delivered an admirable performance as Max Verstappen’s lieutenant in winning his first three titles, but he has been talked about for all the wrong reasons this year.

Never has a driver scored such a large proportion of his team’s points: 437 of the 589 points Red Bull have come from Verstappen this season.

What is surprising is that Red Bull kept Pérez on his team until the end of the year.

Was it for financial obligations? The wealthy Carlos Slim, through Escuderia Telmex, financially supported Pérez’s career from the start and undoubtedly offered support to Red Bull.

We have already mentioned the – fanciful – theory of a deliberate sabotage of Red Bull to slide down the team rankings and benefit from more wind tunnel time to develop next year’s car. Let’s emphasize this: no one at Red Bull would not confirm such a strategy even if it were in place.

Notwithstanding his performances this season, Pérez has unprecedented popularity in Latin America, particularly in Mexico. Since Wednesday, Red Bull lost subscribers by the tens of thousands on Instagram.

Keeping a wheel in F1 is a miracle, and in a team like Red Bullthe margin is even smaller.

Being a teammate of Max at Red Bullas a young driver I wouldn’t want to be in those shoes, if I’m honestPérez had already warned before the Abu Dhabi GP.

You can’t understand the level of pressure in that tub.

The lucky one will therefore be the New Zealander Liam Lawson, who has already played the role of replacement twice in orbit Red Bull : a first time when Daniel Ricciardo, himself replacing Nyck de Vries during the season, injured his wrist, then this year, when Daniel Ricciardo did the same in this same sister team.

Was it this experience of jumping on a moving train that decided in his favor? Because the other pilot Racing Bullsthe Japanese Yuki Tsunoda, would have weighty arguments, on paper.

He has consistently been faster than Lawson and Ricciardo in qualifying this season. According to the BBC’s calculation, Tsunoda was also faster than Lawson in running on average, by a small margin of 8 hundredths of a second, that said.

Red Bull perhaps felt that Tsunoda’s sometimes soupy character wouldn’t fit in their garage. Tsunoda’s presence in F1 is largely supported by the engine manufacturer Honda, which will soon give way to Ford at Red Bull.

Between the lines, it’s easy to understand that Tsunoda’s long-term place in F1 is in jeopardy… unless a seat at Aston Martin, which will have Honda engines, becomes available in the near future.

The role of a second driver is a terribly thankless position in F1. During his career, a single-seater driver will be convinced that he is the star, that he can beat anyone… until he arrives in a large team, as second driver, where one favors the other side of the garage.

Perhaps that’s Lawson’s advantage. He showed up in F1 twice with no pressure, no expectations, and he did a completely respectable job.

If he can spare his own ambitions and agree to do the sometimes uncomfortable job of protecting Max Verstappen on the track, Red Bull will find part of the recipe which led to three world title conquests.

Where do the old people go?

Lawson’s arrival at a top team is another demonstration that the popularity of veterans in F1 is falling. Pérez will probably not find a place on the grid in F1, and could find himself in endurance or in an American series like IndyCar.

In his message of thanks, Pérez promised his supporters that they were going to see each other again soon. And remember…Never give up!

In 2026 there will be two new steering wheels available: those from Cadillac. It would be logical for one of the two to go to a young American driver, like Colton Herta, who has already proven himself in single-seaters and who has even had the right to a few laps in F1, in private tests.

An experienced driver, who can lead his new team and help develop the car, a driver with softened pride, could be a good complement. Perhaps it is at Cadillac that Pérez’s supporters will be able to see him again?

For next year, however, two other veterans have lost their spots.

Valtteri Bottas, after three miserable years at Sauber, returns home to Mercedes, but as a third driver. Kevin Magnussen is another victim of the game of musical chairs, and the announced arrival of recruits like Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber, confirmed) and Isack Hadjar (Racing Bullspresumed).

This trend towards green recruits is paradoxical, when we think that at that time, in F1, each exit from the track is costly, and the money is counted.

Franco Colapinto might have missed his chance for a place next year when he hit the wall in Las Vegas. Andrea Kimi Antonelli impressed no one when he visited the gravel trap during testing at the Italian Grand Prix.

For Lawson’s sake, let’s hope he knows how to stay on track.