Sergio Perez's 'Wolf of Wall Street' response to F1 retirement rumours

Sergio Perez has moved to silence rumours suggesting he could be about to announce his retirement from F1.

F1 journalist Joe Saward had suggested earlier this week that Perez was planning to announcement his retirement at his home race in Mexico City in late October.

“One interesting rumour in Singapore was that Perez and Red Bull have worked out a plan that will see him announce his retirement in Mexico, giving him a more gentle exit than being fired and will be less painful for Red Bull sales in the Americas,” Saward wrote.

“This would give Red Bull the chance to shop around for a new driver in 2025. Despite its expensive young driver programmes, Red Bull does not have someone ready to step up alongside Max Verstappen.”

On Sunday, Perez took to X (formerly Twitter) to address the speculation by sharing a famous clip from the film ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ which states: “I’m not leaving”.

The Mexican, whose future beyond the end of the season remains uncertain amid his continued struggles alongside Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, recently admitted that retirement had briefly crossed his mind.

“These past six months I did think about it [leaving F1], but it took me three seconds to make the decision,” Perez told DAZN.

“In the end, it would be the easy route, after so many years to quit and kind of give up. I would never have forgiven myself for that.

“I want to finish my career when I want and not when someone tells me. That’s my main focus: to get to the point where I can decide my future.

“For now I am very motivated, to be honest, I really want to continue in F1. I enjoy it. Especially the good times you really enjoy, but you also learn to enjoy the bad ones.”

Perez did indicate that his current deal, which runs until the end of 2025, will likely be his last.

“For now I have two more years on my contract, and two years in F1 is a long time, but I know that the end is getting closer,” he added.

“I don’t see myself racing here like Fernando for example, whom I admire greatly for everything he does at his age. 

“It’s not that I wouldn’t like to, but because I have small children and I want to spend a lot more time with them. At the end of the day, they will be the limiting factor.”