Next weekend’s Formula One season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will reportedly be Sergio Perez’s last with Red Bull, paving the way for Kiwi Liam Lawson to step into his vacant seat.

According to multiple reports, 34-year-old Perez will not continue as a Red Bull driver beyond this year, the team having lost their crown as Formula One’s constructors champions.

Despite a promising start to 2024, which earned Perez a one-year contract extension and a team option for 2026, the Mexican driver’s form has fallen off a cliff.

While teammate Max Verstappen has won a fourth straight drivers championship, and scored 429 points with nine wins, Perez sits eighth heading to Abu Dhabi, with 152 points.

That gap is the largest between any two teammates this season. What’s more, should Verstappen win Abu Dhabi, and Perez fail to score at all, the gap could extend beyond 300 points.

According to ESPN, Perez’s contract extension means he cannot be sacked from Red Bull as an organisation outright. However, he would also be freed to remain with the team in an ambassadorial role.

That role would effectively leave Perez as a marketing tool for Red Bull, with his popularity bringing in both sponsorship and audience in his native Mexico, and Latin America.

Red Bull had a clause in Perez’s contract where he could be terminated at this year’s summer break, if he trailed Verstappen by more than 100 points.

But even though Perez met that mark, Red Bull kept faith in the hope he’d rediscover his form in the back end of this season.

Should Perez leave the team, Lawson looms as the first cab off the rank to replace him.

• Lawson takes 14th place in drama-filled Qatar Grand Prix
• Liam Lawson accuses rival of sabotaging Qatar qualifying run
• Lawson calls for NZ anthem to be played for McLaren victories
• Lawson takes ninth, Verstappen wins in chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix
• Lawson denied point by Perez in Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race

The 22-year-old Kiwi is currently with subsidiary team Racing Bulls, but was only guaranteed the final six races of 2024. However, it is widely understood those six races are a means of stress testing Lawson to ascertain if he’s ready to step up alongside Verstappen next year.

Lawson’s primary instruction in his stint was to better teammate Yuki Tsunoda’s results, however the Kiwi trails 3-2 in this season’s races, despite taking a 4-1 lead in a five-race spell in 2023.

While Tsunoda is also a contender to move up into Red Bull, having been with the team since 2021, the Herald understands senior figures within the team are hesitant to promote him.

Tsunoda is linked to Red Bull through engine supplier Honda, who are with Red Bull’s two teams until the end of next season. After that, though, Honda will join Aston Martin.

The Herald understands that Red Bull do not want to give Tsunoda a year in their car, only to lose him 12 months later, and see him join a rival. Aston Martin have already landed one blow against Red Bull this year by signing legendary car designer Adrian Newey.

Elsewhere on the grid, Williams’ Franco Colapinto has also emerged as a contender, after a strong start to his temporary stint with the team. After replacing the sacked Logan Sargeant, Colapinto scored points in two of his first four races, with eighth in Azerbaijan and 10th at Austin.

However, his last three race weekends have seen crashes in Brazil, Las Vegas and Qatar on Monday. On top of any damage costs to the team, it is widely understood Red Bull would have to pay an eight-figure sum to release him from his Williams contract.

Red Bull academy driver Isack Hadjar has been with the team since Austin, and looms as the likely candidate to step into Racing Bulls, as and when one of Lawson or Tsunoda is promoted.

Red Bull senior adviser and head of youth development Dr Helmut Marko has said no decision will be announced until after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next week.

Alex Powell is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.