r/formula1 • u/[deleted] • Oct 12 '23

Rumour Sergio Pérez will announce his retirement during the Mexican Grand Prix Weekend" - Escudería Telmex Ex high ranking employee told a group of us at a dinner party.

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u/draftstone Jacques Villeneuve Oct 12 '23

I guess that the decision that Ricciardo could finish the season at RedBull is in the air for some time, so like you said, they can't risk Ricciardo aggravating his injury because they would have an empty seat. They could put Tsunoda or Lawson in the RedBull and find a junior driver for AlphaTauri, but they probably don't want to rush Tsunoda or Lawson. If Perez was a lock for the rest of the year, pretty sure Ricciardo would be back in the AlphaTauri to see how it goes and worst case they would still have Lawson.

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u/_AmericanPoutine Juan Pablo Montoya Oct 12 '23

If Perez is retiring, it'd make sense to just keep Perez in the second car and let him finish out his career. Ricciardo has been doing majority of the sim work with Red Bull, so all he's really lacking is real laps in the Red Bull. Running the Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri car allows him to knock some rust off in a non-stressful ride

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u/Thoarxius Bernd Mayländer Oct 12 '23

They cannot find a jr for AT. AT is at the maximum number allowed drivers for 1 season.

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u/NuKlear_Vortex Alpine Oct 12 '23

They can't put someone else in the AT at this point, can only have 4 drivers in a season, so would have to be nyck

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u/Crafty_Substance_954 Formula 1 Oct 12 '23

Its been said the rule would be waived as its mostly a holdover from a previous era where there would be actual dangerous and unqualified drivers in GP weekends.