Christian Horner has given an additional perception into Sergio Perez’s exit from Purple Bull, with the crew boss stating that the Mexican got here to the choice to step away himself as he takes time to mirror on his subsequent steps.
Hypothesis had been constructing over Perez’s place on the Milton Keynes outfit for a while after what proved to be a difficult marketing campaign, the 34-year-old having suffered a downturn in type because the season progressed regardless of a robust begin.
ANALYSIS: Perez had a contract for 2025 – so why has his Purple Bull journey come to an finish now?
Whereas the crew had handed him a two-year contract extension again in June, it was confirmed after the season had concluded that Perez and Purple Bull had reached an settlement to half methods with speedy impact, while Liam Lawson will make the step up from RB to develop into Max Verstappen’s crew mate in 2025.
Talking to Sky Sports activities F1 after Perez’s departure had been introduced, Horner was requested in regards to the troublesome inside dialogue that the six-time race winner should have had inside himself relating to the state of affairs.
“Yeah, completely,” Horner responded. “Checo, he’s been a implausible member of this crew. It’s been a tricky 12 months for him however he’s a fantastic individual and naturally [he] performed such a key position within the ’21 drivers’ championship, ’22 and ’23 constructors’.
“He was second within the drivers’ world championship final 12 months, he’s received 5 Grands Prix in our automobiles. However he mirrored after the season and we sat down and mentioned it final week about what are the following steps, and he’s determined that he’s going to take a little bit of outing.
