Perez: In the next six months I will make a decision

The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix turned out to be Perez's last with Red Bull Racing, who decided to let him go after struggling massively alongside Max Verstappen during the 2024 F1 season and replaced him with Liam Lawson.

Perez did not announce any future plans this year, but speaking at the Feria de Leon event in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, quoted by Motorsport.com, he gave some insight on what he is up to.

Perez said: "In the next six months I will make a decision on what's next for my career. I am totally happy, and I will return to Formula 1 if that is what makes me happiest."

Before Red Bull took the decision to replace Perez, he always insisted he would see out his contract with the team despite all the speculation, but in the end, contracts in F1 are there to be broken, and the Mexican driver was able to reach a settlement with the team allowing his exit.

And it is not the first time Perez has found himself in such a position during his career. In fact, he was in the same position back on the eve of the 2021 F1 season when he was out of a drive as Racing Point, who were morphing into Aston Martin, decided to replace him with Sebastian Vettel, but then Red Bull came calling.

"The important thing is that I never gave up," Perez added. "Whenever something difficult happened in my career better things came and that was because I never gave up.

“I'm very excited about what's to come this year and I'm very calm and very happy," he insisted.

But for now, it is a well-deserved break for the 34-year-old driver who revealed: "I am really enjoying my children, my family, my friends.

"I am finally going to travel, because in these years I travelled all over the world, but without knowing it," he concluded.

Pere started his F1 career with Sauber back in 2011 and raced with them for two seasons before moving to McLaren in 2013 for one failed season.

In 2014, he moved to Force India and remained with the team until the 2020 season as the team was rebranded Racing Point by then after Lawrence Stroll took it out of administration in 2018. He joined Red Bull in 2021.

Over his career, Perez has accumulated six wins (one with Racing Point, five with Red Bull), 33 podium finishes, and three pole positions. His best championship result was runner-up with Red Bull in 2023.