Sergio Perez has confirmed who’ll be racing for his own team in the UIM E1 World Championship, a brand-new electric speedboat racing series.
The Red Bull driver announced in July 2022 that he’d be entering a team into the all-electric series, known as Team Mexico.
For the sport’s inaugural season, Perez’s team has signed ex-HRT Formula 1 test driver Dani Clos and ex-W Series driver Vicky Piria.
They’ll be up against some stiff competition, as tennis legend Rafael Nadal and NFL all-time great Tom Brady have also both entered their own sides.
Want to work in Formula 1? Browse the latest F1 job vacancies
How often Perez will be able to watch his team compete in-person is currently unknown, considering that the 2024 F1 World Championship gets underway at the end of February with the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The 2024 F1 season will be the longest in the sport’s history, as it consists of 24 races.
As for E1, the new series is targeting to raise awareness over climate change, as well as promote clean mobility and restore ecosystems.
It’s a great project for Perez to have alongside his F1 duties, especially as he reaches the latter stages of his career at the pinnacle of motorsport.
During the 2023 season, there was plenty of speculation that he wouldn’t keep his seat at Red Bull next year; however, he will enter 2024 still as a Red Bull driver.
Next year is the last on the 33-year-old’s current contract, with it expected that he won’t be offered an extension for 2025 or beyond.
It largely depends on how well he performs, as he can’t afford another huge slump like he did this year.
READ: Lewis Hamilton replacement already picked by Mercedes
If Perez isn’t offered a new contract by the Milton Keynes-based outfit, then he’ll either have to accept a move to a weaker team potentially in the midfield or even retire from F1.
Should he do the latter, then he’ll at least have E1 to focus on, meaning that he’ll have something to do regardless of what Red Bull decide to do with him at the end of next season.
Perez is targeting to take the fight to Max Verstappen in 2024, although battling the Dutchman is easier said than done.