IndyCar champ trolls Red Bull's Lawson/Tsunoda swap with hilarious Sergio Perez meme

2003 IndyCar champion Paul Tracy joined in on the Red Bull driver swap saga by sharing a hilarious meme on his Instagram featuring digitally generated image of Sergio Perez enjoying his time watching the drama unfold. Red Bull replaced Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda after just two races, but the New Zealander himself had been a replacement for the Mexican driver, showcasing how some bit of the performance delta creeps in due to the RB21's overall struggles.

The 2024 F1 season saw McLaren overtake Red Bull in the performance charts, and the latter team aimed to defend its reign with the initial advantage it had built. While Max Verstappen did his part by winning races despite being in a slower car as compared to his rivals for the second half of the season, Perez's contribution to the points tally reduced drastically.

At the end of the season, the Dutchman had almost amassed thrice the points of his teammate, and Horner & co. decided to part ways with Perez due to his performance delta to Verstappen. They brought in Liam Lawson for the job and affirmed their faith in the young driver.

However, just two races into the 2025 F1 season, the 23-year-old was announced to be moving back to Red Bull's junior team, while Yuki Tsunoda was given the promotion to the senior team.

With Lawson being outperformed by his teammate in the intra-team battle, a problem that Perez had also endured, Paul Tracy trolled Red Bull by sharing a meme on the meta-owned platform. The image is digitally generated and shows Perez reacting after seeing his replacement getting sacked. He captioned the post as (via Instagram/@PaulTracyOfficial):

"Checo kickin' back in Cabo."

Former IndyCar champion Paul Tracy's Instagram Story | Source: Instagram

F1 is not the only series where frantic driver swaps are common.

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Which IndyCar team is known for its Red Bull-esque driver swaps mid-season?

Christian Lundgaard's Arrow McLaren at the INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Source: Getty

IndyCar is not behind its European counterpart, with multiple drivers often having a part-time role in the championship, a sight that F1 observes once in a blue moon. However, here also, an F1-background team leads the way, i.e., Arrow McLaren.

The British team has soared in the headlines due to its suddenness of its driver switches. During the 2024 season, five drivers drove for the team (non-Indy 500 races) in three Dallara chassis.

Alex Palou initially declined to join Arrow McLaren for the 2024 season as the road to F1 with McLaren appeared to have no end due to the team already having two impressive drivers. Then, the team got a new driver for the job, which it found in David Malukas.

However, Malukas had a pre-season accident, and Callum Illott and Theo Pourchaire filled in. But this partnership also soon broke down as the Frenchman was ousted from the team after it signed Nolan Siegel for the seat. Siegel is also driving for the team this season.