Christian Horner has framed Sergio Perez's Red Bull exit as the driver's own decision, saying Red Bull "fully supports" his choice to take a "sabbatical" from F1.
Perez signed a new contract with Red Bull back in June that could have kept him at the team until at least the end of 2026.
But pressure grew on Perez's position for 2025 and Red Bull and Perez announced a joint split a week and a half after the Abu Dhabi finale.
Perez repeatedly expressed his desire to stay with the team that he's won five of his six races with but Red Bull's been seeking a more consistently competitive team-mate to Max Verstappen than Perez - especially once it became clear it was set to lose the constructors’ championship.
Yet Horner was keen to frame Perez's early Red Bull departure as Perez's own choice in a revealing interview with Sky Sports F1 following the news.
'He's decided to take time out'
Horner said Perez had been a "fantastic" member of the team, helping Red Bull to win constructors' titles in 2022 and 2023 and playing a crucial role in Verstappen's first F1 title in 2021.
"He reflected after the season, we sat down and discussed it last week about what are the next steps," Horner explained.
"He's decided that he's going to take a bit of time out. Sad to see him leave the team but it's time for him to spend with his young family as well and reflect on what he wants to do for the future."
When asked if handing him a two-year contract extension back in June was to try to inflate Perez's confidence, Horner said "yes of course. At the time we signed it, he'd had four podiums in five races so it was a logical extension just to remove speculation of which there was already too much around the team.
"Any contract has certain performance clauses and criteria within it. It didn't make any difference to this decision of Sergio's to step away and take a sabbatical."
What went wrong?
So what does Horner think went so wrong for a driver who at his peak, has been the closest team-mate Verstappen's had since Daniel Ricciardo's exit at the end of 2018?
"He's not really quite sure," Horner said when asked what went awry for Perez.
"The car became more narrow in its performance window. He struggled with that compared to Max. Such an enormous gulf in points between the two drivers.
"He was struggling with that, that then puts pressure on him and the harder you try sometimes, the slower you go.
"It became almost like a vicious circle for him. Flashes of old form in Azerbaijan but unfortunately that didn't translate into points [because of a clash with Carlos Sainz]. So it's been a hugely frustrating campaign for him.
"That's hurt us quite badly in the constructors' championship."
Why not move him to RB?
When Red Bull dropped Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly from its senior team, it gave them a seat in the junior team.
According to Horner that was never a serious option for Perez.
"I think at the stage Checo's at his in his career that wouldn't really have been an option for him," Horner said.
"It's not something we ever really discussed or even talked about. He's come to this decision now and we support it fully."
Who will replace him?
While Liam Lawson is expected to be the replacement, Red Bull's initial announcement didn't name Perez's successor.
"We have all the information that we need. Essentially it will be a choice between Yuki [Tsunoda] and Liam, both have got strong credentials," Horner said.
"We tested Yuki recently at the tyre test [on Tuesday after Abu Dhabi GP], a chance for him to work with the engineering team.
"Liam has done a lot of testing with us behind the scenes this year as well and has driven very well in the six races he's had. So we have all the information, we're just looking at that and considering all of that.
"Speaking with the engineering team as well and we'll come to a decision in the coming days."