‘Performed better in commercials than on track’ – your Perez exit reaction

Not long after Sergio Perez announced his departure from Red Bull Racing, the Mexican driver’s previous posts on the social media platform X landed a ‘community note’ clarifying a sassy post from earlier this year.

It was only one of the countless fan reactions we’ve compiled today after the news of Perez stepping back from Red Bull.

Sergio Perez ‘performed better in commercials than on track’

Sergio Perez has looked to be on Red Bull Racing’s chopping block for months, with each race serving as yet another opportunity for the team to reevaluate Perez’s performance.

So pressing were the rumors that, after rumors swirled claiming Perez would retire from motorsport at the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix, the driver felt the need to push back.

He did so by posting a short clip on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, pulled from the film The Wolf of Wall Street, on 29 September.

The 17-second clip from the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street was 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.

Fans hadn’t forgotten the cheeky response and quickly put to use a new X feature known as “community notes,” where the site’s users can offer additional context to a post or refute its points.

The Wolf of Wall Street clip from Perez now features a community note that reads nothing but, “He left” with a link to his goodbye address.

More on Sergio Perez’s Red Bull departure

Sergio Perez confirms long-expected Red Bull departure

Christian Horner sends Sergio Perez message after Red Bull exit confirmed

Overall, fans seem largely unsympathetic about Sergio Perez’s departure, adopting the perspective that it was time for Checo to let go — even if they admitted to being fans of the driver.

“It was so inevitable at this point that I don’t really feel anything about it,” a fan name Mike Kobela said of Perez’s departure. “He performed better in commercials than he did on track.”

Another fan, Marc Wiley, admitted that he mostly just felt “resigned” at the news.

“He was so good at Force India and he really did earn his shot,” Wiley argued. “But he only occasionally lived up to that potential.

“For whatever reasons, he never could be solid enough in the Red Bull, and pressure seemed to crack him like a Faberge egg in baggage claim.”

Lisel Kundert felt that Red Bull “tolerated [Perez] underperforming a lot longer than they have other drivers.

“But they lost the [constructors’ championship] this year because he didn’t bring in the points. That had to be the breaking point for them.”

Several big-time Perez fans told PlanetF1.com that it had “become embarrassing to see him implode” this season, and that it is “unfortunate that these past two years soured his image among fans.”

“He clearly wasn’t happy,” said a fan named Mark Madion. “Let’s just remember his entire career and not the last tenth of it. The guy has done some incredible driving since his debut.”

Perhaps even more interesting were the concerns about the wellbeing of the driver — either Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda — who will take Perez’s place.

Mike Kobela, quoted above, said, “My feelings are moreso filled with worry on whoever’s gonna take that seat. Will they succeed, or the musical chair starts again?”

Meanwhile, a Threads user with the creative handle @ayrtowncentre took a more jaded perspective, saying, “Storyline for 2025: His replacement is no better and Max’s excellent performance at the beginning of 2024 has masked the team’s fall from grace into the mid pack.”

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.

Fans have picked up on these rumors as well, with multiple people expressing disappointment that the team seems to be trending more toward Lawson than Tsunoda.

“I don’t have anything against Liam,” a fan named Avery Hage said, “but [I] wanted Yuki as the replacement.”

“Yuki in that seat is so very clearly the best option that I am surprised that Red Bull didn’t cut the cord earlier,” said another fan named Andrew Rollason.

A tough day for Perez, indeed.

Read next: Revealed: The race that set Sergio Perez on path to Red Bull exit