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Veteran F1 journalist Joe Saward claimed that he has faced online abuse from the fans of Sergio Perez for reporting his rumored exit from the Red Bull F1 team. The Mexican driver has been under constant scrutiny by the Austrian team as he has been unable to match the performance of his Dutch teammate, Max Verstappen, in the past 18 months.
There have been numerous reports of Perez being ousted by the reigning world champions for his performances, but he has been backed by the team publicly. In his blog, Green Notebook, Saward reported that there were rumors that Sergio Perez might announce his retirement after this year's Mexico City GP.
However, after the report gained traction, the 34-year-old denied the claims by posting a scene from the Hollywood movie, The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, wherein the character dispels rumors of him leaving the organization.
In a post on October 2 on his blog, Green Notebook, Joe Saward discussed in detail the online abuse he faced from the Red Bull driver's fans since he reported the Mexican driver's rumored exit from the sport.
"I block people who incite, abuse, or insult. I welcome all those fans who can exchange views sensibly, but so-called social media all too often these days becomes anti-social media. To give you an idea of the scale of the abuse, today we blocked the 1,000th person since this business began a few days ago," Saward wrote.
"Most were overtly rude, and a few “liked” an abusive comment, which for me is the same thing. I was accused of many different things, threatened and some paper tiger even put my face on a tombstone," he added.
Despite speculation about the Mexican driver's future, Sergio Perez himself refuted any such claims of him retiring from the sport anytime soon.
Sergio Perez discusses his future in F1
Red Bull driver Sergio Perez said that he had thought about his future in the sport away from the track but was clear about his decision. Speaking with DAZN on September 27, the Mexican cleared the air on any rumors surrounding his exit as he said (as quoted by PlanetF1):
"These past six months I did think about it, but it took me three seconds to make the decision. In the end, it would be the easy route, after so many years to quit and kind of give up," Perez said.
"I would never have forgiven myself for that. I want to finish my career when I want and not when someone tells me. That's my main focus: to get to the point where I can decide my future," he added.
Sergio Perez has a contract with Red Bull, which he signed during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend this year, that would see him race for the Austrian team until the end of the 2025 season. However, given the ruthless nature of the team, many in the F1 world have claimed that the 34-year-old may be replaced if the performances do not improve.
