The 2021 Formula 1 season heralded a new era for Red Bull Racing. It marked the team’s return to championship glory, and it was also the first year that Sergio Perez joined the outfit as Max Verstappen’s teammate.

That era has come to an end today with the announcement that Sergio Perez will be stepping back from driving duties at Red Bull Racing — and Verstappen has offered a few words of farewell for the Mexican driver.

Max Verstappen remembers “amazing moments” with Sergio Perez

Speculation about Sergio Perez’s future with the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team has swirled for months — seemingly since the driver put pen to paper in signing a renewal with the team for 2025, with an option to continue into 2026.

Almost immediately after, Perez’s performance tumbled. As teams began to bring their first upgrade packages of the season, it became clear that the likes of McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari were able to make impressive gains, while Red Bull struggled to implement counter-developments quickly enough to make a difference in performance.

Though both Verstappen and Perez struggled to rein in a wily RB20, it was the latter driver who truly seemed to struggle.

From four podiums in the first four races of the season, Perez found himself struggling to get out of Q1 in qualifying. Even finishing in the points became a challenge.

And it came with disastrous consequences. Though Verstappen was still able to clinch the World Drivers’ Championship with two races remaining, Red Bull dropped to third place in the Constructors’ standings, as Perez struggled to contribute to the points total.

On 18 December, Perez announced that he was officially stepping back from racing with Red Bull in order to take a “sabbatical” in 2025. Horner confirmed to Sky Sports F1 that Perez will “still be involved with the brand and the team. But he’s stepping back from driving duties moving forward.”

This implies that Perez may take on some sort of ambassadorial role with Red Bull moving forward.

Whatever the case, Max Verstappen took a moment to offer a few words of praise for his now-former teammate on social media.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure driving alongside you,” Verstappen wrote on X, followed by an emoji showing two hands clasped in prayer.“We’ve had some amazing moments together that I’ll always remember. Thank you, Checo!”

The message was accompanied by three images. One shows the former teammates walking to driver introductions together, while the second shows Perez offering Verstappen a hug after a race. The final is an image of Verstappen and Perez celebrating a 1-2 finish with the whole Red Bull team.

Red Bull has stated that it will announce its 2025 driver lineup plans in due course; PlanetF1.com understands Liam Lawson is the leading candidate to take the Red Bull seat for the F1 2025 season, with Isack Hadjar promoted to the Racing Bull’s line-up alongside Yuki Tsunoda.