So we now know who the drivers are for the 20225 Formula One season with the announcement earlier this week Liam Lawson will replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull. This is actually very good news as slowly the sport is ridding itself of drivers who have been buying their seats and blocking young talent from coming through. There are only 20 seats up for grabs which is not a lot and if there is no movement then these drivers are blocking the new faces who have to sit on the side lines. Next season sees 5 new drivers which is 25% of the grid and this has to be seen as a healthy change.
When you look at Perez vs Verstappen stats for the season you have to ask questions why Perez was kept on for so long. The final points difference was 285 which is huge considering they were driving the same car. 285 points equates to $285 million with 1 point values at $1 million each.
Red Bull lost heir constructors title which they have won consecutively during the 2022 and 2023 season. Losing that title affects their own sponsorship deals no being able to ask higher fees being the championship winning team.
What was appealing to teams having Perez in their team was the sponsors that supported him that not only paid his salary of $10 million per annum, but the bonus $30 million that came as part of the package deal.
Receiving $40 million over and above whatever Perez scored as a driver earning the points was fine when he was challenging in the top 3 like he did in 2022 and 2023, but the gap became too big to justify. Money does not buy you success as you need to have the skill to justify your seat and that time ran out for Perez long ago. I would be guessing, but believe the only reason he kept his seat for the remainder of last season was another payment must have been paid by his financial backers.
Having a paid seat was great if you were one of the smaller teams 10 years ago, but that business model has now changed. Teams are these days generating big profits from the points they earn via racing and where the bulk of their revenue comes from. The cost of entry licensing a team to race is only $200 million and teams earn far more than that via their own sponsors and end of season points tally.
The only so called "paid" drivers remaining are Lance Stroll who his dad owns the Aston Martin racing team so he is not going anywhere and you would think would struggle if his dad was not around. The other is Yuki Tsunoda who is backed by Honda and was protected as they used to supply engines to Red Bull Racing. I suspect his seat will be under pressure next season if he does not improve.
Personally I hated the idea that drivers were paying for seats blocking genuine talent with no seats. Not that long ago nearly half the grid with 7 drivers who possibly should not have been driving and would not have been driving without their backers. This dilutes the quality leaving only the talented drives to dominate the sport.