$50 million-worth former champion offers grim prediction for Sergio Perez's future 

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve has offered a grim prediction for Sergio Perez, claiming that the Mexican's F1 stint is over and he's never coming back. Perez was a Red Bull driver from 2021 to 2024, during which time the team won four drivers' and two constructors' championships.

The Mexican's stint at Red Bull was also quite fruitful from a personal standpoint, as he finished second in the championship in 2023, his best result in F1. He also won multiple races with the team and played a pivotal role in Max Verstappen clinching the title in 2021. There were moments in that season where he held up Lewis Hamilton on track, hurting his races and, in essence, helping his teammate in the process.

Despite all of this, there was a clear performance gulf between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. It was something that did get a bit papered over when Red Bull was just leagues above its rivals, but in 2024, it was this gulf that cost the team the constructors championship. Unlike 2022 and 2023, the car performance alone was not enough to help the team win the constructors championship, and it slumped to P3 in the standings.

This has led to Red Bull replacing Sergio Perez for the 2025 F1 season with Liam Lawson. Talking to Action Network, Jacques Villeneuve, who has a net worth of $50 million (as per Celebrity Net Worth), has claimed that the Mexican should now just enjoy life as his time in F1 is done.

"Sergio Perez should take the money and enjoy life. Endurance racing. F1 is done. He'll never get back. He was actually done and then Red Bull took him," the Canadian said.

Sergio Perez's fire was already burnt when Red Bull picked him

Talking about the Mexican, the Canadian said that Perez's fire had already burnt by the time Red Bull actually picked him up. Perez had been dropped at the end of the 2020 F1 season in favor of Sebastian Vettel by Racing Point and didn't have a seat by the end of the season. It was during this time that Christian Horner had picked up the Mexican.

According to Villeneuve, Sergio Perez was already done when the Austrian team picked him up.

"And when Red Bull took him, that gave him a little spark, that gave him the hunger that made him (for a couple of years) go much better than he had been. Now it's extinguished," the 53-year-old said.

It's hard to predict what Perez does next as he could possibly make a comeback with Cadillac as he will bring a decent amount of sponsorship money with him as well as the expertise of racing in a title-contending team in the past.