Home Sport Sergio Perez responds to Red Bull retirement rumors by channeling inner ‘Wolf of Wall Street’

Sergio Perez responds to Red Bull retirement rumors by channeling inner ‘Wolf of Wall Street’

Sport — 01/10/2024 · 0 Comment

Doubters be silenced: Sergio Perez isn’t going anywhere

Sergio Perez’s future in Formula 1 has been in hot debate throughout much of the F1 2024 season, with recent rumors suggesting the Mexican racer will announce his retirement at his home race in late October. 

Ask Perez, though, and he’ll tell you otherwise. The Red Bull racer took to X to share a clip from the film The Wolf of Wall Street in response to the retirement rumors, sharing one simple message: “I’m not leaving.”

Sergio Perez denies rumors that Red Bull retirement is imminent

Earlier this week, Formula 1 journalist Joe Saward stated that Red Bull Racing and Perez had “worked out a plan” to announce the Mexican driver’s retirement at his home race, bringing to an end a tumultuous F1 2024 season that saw his future questioned multiple times.

Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix in June, Red Bull announced that Perez had re-signed to the team for the F1 2025 season, with an option to remain with the outfit in 2026.

Almost immediately, however, Perez’s future was called into question.

The Red Bull driver saw a sudden drop-off in performance almost immediately after the ink on the contract dried, leading to speculation that the Milton Keynes-based outfit would axe Checo partway through 2024.

As Perez’s performance spiraled, McLaren faced a turning of the tides, threatening Red Bull for the coveted World Constructors’ Championship. With the understanding that Perez wasn’t playing his part in securing points for the team, many expected the Mexican racer to be dropped after the summer break, to be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.

Red Bull nipped that suggestion in the bud almost instantly; mere days into the summer break, it was announced that Checo would remain with the team.

These recent rumors have stemmed from the decision to drop Ricciardo from Red Bull’s junior team, VCARB. As the Red Bull organization puts its ducks in a row, Saward speculated that Perez would be offered an opportunity to retire gracefully.

However, Perez has denied speculation.

He took to social media platform X to share a 17-second clip from the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, paired with the caption “Sorry” and six crying laughing emojis.

In the clip, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Jordan Belfort addresses speculation that he’ll be leaving his finance company. What starts out as goodbye speech transforms halfway through, as Belfort decides he wishes to remain in his role after all.

“I’m not leaving,” he says, almost as a whisper. He repeats the phrase before yelling, “I’m not f*cking leaving!” as the office roars its approval.

(Fittingly, the clip is censored, just in case the FIA is watching.)

Perez has firmly stated his piece, perhaps with the intention of putting to bed rumors of his retirement. While the tides can turn at any moment in Red Bull, it seems for now that Sergio Perez is confident he’ll be racing in the future.