In the fast-paced world of Formula 1, where memories are short and loyalty is even shorter, breakups tend to come with a public relations hangover. This is especially true when the person who was dumped refuses to go quietly. Such is the case with Sergio Pérez, who, months after leaving Red Bull, has taken to the airwaves with all the subtlety of a soap opera star delivering a monologue on heartbreak. The 35-year-old Mexican claims the team regrets parting ways with him. Christian Horner, however, would politely but firmly disagree.

The Red Bull team principal has never shied away from adding his own footnotes to a saga and has now publicly dismissed Pérez’s claims. He has made it clear that the energy drink empire is not spending its evenings wistfully watching old race replays and missing the man once dubbed ‘the Minister of Defence’.

Red Bull, it seems, is doing just fine — even if the numbers suggest otherwise.

 

The podcast that stirred the pot

It all started with Pérez’s appearance on the Spanish-language podcast Desde el Paddock, where he decided to clear the air — or more accurately, add a touch of dramatic haze to it. Despite having received a contract extension, Pérez alleged that Red Bull offered little in the way of public support when things began to go downhill. The silence, he implied, was deafening — and deliberate.

‘It would have been easy if the team had just said, “You know what? We have a driver signed for the next two years,’” he lamented. ‘But that wasn’t the case. From that point on, no one talked about anything other than Red Bull, race after race.”

Then came the kicker — the insider whisper.

‘I know deep down they regret it very much,’ said Pérez, adopting the dramatic tone of a telenovela protagonist. ‘I’ve heard that from a very good source.’

Of course, unnamed sources in F1 carry as much weight as a pre-race weather forecast — occasionally accurate, often exaggerated, and usually someone else’s fault.

 

The Horner rebuttal

Enter Christian Horner, who felt it was time to set the record straight. Speaking to FOX Sports Mexico, the Red Bull boss offered a far less romantic view of the split.

‘Checo had a very difficult end to the season, if you remember,’ Horner said in that typically British manner that often precedes a verbal takedown disguised as a compliment. ‘We felt it was the right moment to end our time together.’

A good time, yes. Regret? Absolutely not.

‘He remains a good friend of the team — everyone likes him very much — but there are no regrets about not continuing,’ Horner added, diplomatically brushing off the notion that Red Bull were sobbing into their Milton Keynes espresso machines.

Ah, the old ‘we’re still friends’ routine — always a reliable indicator that things ended badly for at least one party.

 

The inconvenient statistics

Now, on to the awkward part. While Red Bull may not be regretting the decision in theory, in practice things have not exactly been plain sailing since Pérez’s departure. After he left at the end of the 2024 season — a year in which he slumped to eighth in the standings and played his part in Red Bull losing the Constructors’ Championship to McLaren — the team turned to Liam Lawson.

Promoted from the Racing Bulls (formerly AlphaTauri, formerly Toro Rosso, and so on), Lawson was handed the hottest of hot seats. He lasted two races, scored no points, and promptly found himself watching from the pit wall.

Next came Yuki Tsunoda, a man with more fire in his radio messages than in his race results. So far, the Japanese driver has managed just seven points in nine races. The result? Red Bull is currently more than 250 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ standings, nursing its wounds while McLaren celebrates at the front.

In other words, Horner may not regret the decision, but he probably isn’t thrilled about the consequences.

 

Pérez: loyal wingman, fallen comrade

To give Pérez his due, he wasn’t just a placeholder next to Verstappen. He played a pivotal role in Red Bull’s dramatic 2021 title-winning campaign, famously holding off Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi in a masterclass of defence that had Christian Horner declaring, ‘Checo is a legend.’

By 2023, Pérez had finished runner-up in the Drivers’ Championship, albeit at arm’s length from Verstappen. The gap between them widened in 2024, as did the gap between Red Bull’s expectations and his results. His performance nosedived while the political climate inside the team became increasingly frosty.

Nevertheless, his decline wasn’t entirely his own doing. The RB21 was increasingly tailored to Verstappen’s preferences — a car that requires immense talent and borderline masochistic tolerance of front-end instability. Checo’s preference for a more stable rear end made him look like he was trying to salsa dance in ski boots. Meanwhile, as McLaren surged forward with a car that suited both its drivers, Red Bull’s internal tensions began to boil over.

 

Checo’s farewell tour

Despite the unceremonious ending, Pérez still enjoys a fair amount of goodwill within the F1 community. His exit was handled with a degree of grace not always afforded in the paddock, despite being inevitable.

What’s next for the veteran? Rumours have circulated about a potential seat with Cadillac in 2026, assuming the American newcomers don’t decide to field a line-up of YouTubers and TikTok influencers for maximum marketing reach.

And as for Red Bull? They continue to search for Verstappen’s perfect wingman — or perhaps his future replacement, depending on which side of the ‘Verstappen to Mercedes’ conspiracy theory you subscribe to.

There are no regrets, just a few awkward glances.

Ultimately, Christian Horner may not regret letting go of Sergio Pérez. However, there’s a fine line between public confidence and quiet panic. As Red Bull looks up at McLaren’s impressive double act of Norris and Piastri on the leaderboard, it’s hard not to wonder if they miss the stability, experience and occasional masterstroke of the man they once called their ‘legend’.

Red Bull may have no regrets, after all. But, given their current performance, it’s fair to say they don’t have many points either.

 

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