Sometimes Formula One teams have invested a lot of money to pry loose a driver who actually had an existing contract
Sergio Perez was sure of himself. No wonder: he had just signed a contract extension with Red Bull in 2024 to be a Formula 1 driver up to and including 2026. But things turned out differently for Perez than he had expected: the team bought him out of his contract, and he is no longer in the cockpit in 2025. But this is not an isolated case in Formula One history.
There are precedents where a lot of money has been invested to prevent a driver from fulfilling his contract.
The topic is also interesting from a German perspective, and in both cases from the 1990s, a certain Eddie Jordan and his team of the same name were involved.
In 2015, Sauber had problems of a completely different nature, namely too many drivers for too few cockpits. At the season opener in Australia, the situation threatened to get out of hand because a contractual partner was insisting on its rights. The matter went to court and later only ended well because an out-of-court settlement was reached – with corresponding payments in one direction.
In another case, a driver had already decided to switch teams but then had a change of heart: he wanted to stay after all! This was possible, but it cost a pretty penny.
A multiple world champion, on the other hand, preferred to retire early with a full year’s salary rather than deal with an unwanted teammate. And a young talent turned down what could have been the biggest opportunity of his career because he no longer wanted to tolerate the new team’s stalling tactics. How it could have turned out? We’ll never know!
Which drivers and teams have spent or earned a lot of money to be able to go a different way after all.
