Formula 1: Two seats have suddenly opened up for 2025

There have been rumors about Sergio Perez leaving Red Bull for the last 18 months amid a significant decline in performance, and now it appears as though the rumors will indeed come to fruition.

While still not confirmed, the "rumors" have turned into "reports", a rather significant development considering the fact that those reports are actually from trustworthy sources rather than Twitter accounts looking for engagement revenue.

Perez, whose most recent victory came in Baku back in April 2023, does not have a single top five finish in the last 17 races, during which time he has fallen to a distant eighth place in the driver standings.

He has clinched the worst championship finish as a full-time teammate to a championship-winning driver since 1994, and teammate Max Verstappen has stood on the top step of the podium 26 times since Perez's most recent triumph, including nine times this year.

Though the 34-year-old brings significant funding and has a massive following in the Americas, specifically in his home country of Mexico, his decline in performance has reached a point where Red Bull, whose constructor championship chances for 2024 are officially out the window following the Qatar Grand Prix, could no longer justify moving forward with him in one of their cars.

Perez did sign a contract extension with the team over the summer, so his exact role moving forward remains to be seen.

How this decision, and eventually this announcement, frees up two seats is because Red Bull appear set to turn to RB to fill the seat alongside Verstappen.

Liam Lawson, who recently joined the team as Daniel Ricciardo's replacement, is said to be the frontrunner over Yuki Tsunoda, but regardless, one of those two seats is set to become vacated as well.

Both drivers have outperformed Perez in inferior equipment on a fairly regular basis during a stretch when Verstappen has managed to significantly extend his world championship advantage.

The domino effect puts Red Bull junior driver Isack Hadjar in position to make the move from Formula 2 to Formula 1 in 2025, a move that would solidify RB's stated purpose of serving as somewhat of a junior team to Red Bull once again.

Hadjar still has a chance to win the 2024 Formula 2 championship this weekend in Abu Dhabi, as he trails the Sauber-bound Gabriel Bortoleto by just 0.5 points.

The 2025 Formula 1 season is scheduled to begin with the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit on Sunday, March 16.