Sergio Perez won’t be on the Formula One (F1) grid in 2025 after Red Bull and the Mexican “agreed to end his contract early” after a tough season.
Perez scored six wins in his time in F1, including a memorable first win in Sakhir Grand Prix. He climbed from last at the end of lap one, to first by the chequered flag in a drive that, at the time, saved his career.
Despite finishing runner-up in the 2023 season, Perez struggled for form in 2024.
The Mexican took three 2nd-place finishes in the opening four races. He then took three consecutive third place finishes, including sprint races in China and Miami.
After Miami though, Perez wouldn’t record another top five finish, a sixth in Zandvoort his best result for the rest of the year.
What do the stats say?
Perez scored 152 points in 2024, only 34.78% of the tally that teammate Max Verstappen scored.
The Dutchman tallied 437 points on his way to a 4th consecutive Drivers’ Championship.
Their head-to-head record was also the most one-sided on the grid over the full season.
Perez only outqualified teammate Verstappen once, at Azerbaijan. The only time he beat his teammate in a race was in Australia, when Verstappen retired with a brake failure.
So how does this gap compare to other previous champions and their teammates?
To get a better understanding, let’s look at the percentage amount of points that a driver got of their champion teammate.
Unsurprisingly, all three of the lowest percentage points are Perez compared to Verstappen.
In 2021, Perez scored 48.04% of Verstappen’s points total. This improved to a respectable 67.18% in 2022, only the 9th biggest gap in the last 15 years.
But in 2023, Perez once again failed to even score half of Verstappen’s points tally. Whilst the Dutchman won the championship with a record 575 points, Perez’s 285 was only 49.57% of his teammate’s effort.
This means that the gap last year between Perez and Verstappen in 2024 was the largest gap since the new points were introduced, and by 14%.
If you were wondering, the closest gap between a champion and his teammate was in 2016 when Rosberg beat Hamilton by 5 points. Hamilton scored 98.7% of Rosberg’s 385 points.
Vettel’s 2010 championship win comes in at the second closest gap, when teammate Mark Webber scored 94.53% of the German’s points.
Completing the top three closest battles is Hamilton against Rosberg in 2015.
Will we see Perez again?
Perez’s best shot for getting back on the grid will be in 2026 when Andretti enters F1.
Until then it’s difficult seeing a seat open up mid-season that Perez, soon to be 35, would slot into.
Especially when there are younger drivers, such as Franco Colapinto, available to teams.