Sergio Perez’s future at Red Bull continues to generate interest, though team principal Christian Horner has reaffirmed the Mexican will be with the team in 2024.
After a strong start to the 2023 campaign that included two wins from the opening four races, the 33-year-old suffered a dip in form. His poor performances in qualifying led to bad race days, which has left Perez 125 points back of teammate Max Verstappen.
Perez has somewhat returned to form in recent races, finishing third in Hungary and second in Belgium. However, pressure has grown on the Mexican since Daniel Ricciardo returned to the F1 grid with Alpha Tauri.
After being the third driver at Red Bull, the Australian impressed at a tyre test following the British Grand Prix. His performance convinced Red Bull he was ready to return to the grid, with the team deciding to drop Nyck de Vries to make way for him.
Horner shows faith in Perez
While Ricciardo, an eight-time race winner, hasn’t hidden his desire to return to Red Bull, Horner has made it clear the team have no intention of dropping Perez.
“We have a contract,” Horner told Speedcafe.
“But for us, it’s always good to have… the whole purpose of AlphaTauri and Toro Rosso before was to be training drivers as potential candidates for Red Bull Racing.
“That’s why, with Nyck, it didn’t feel like he was going to be a Red Bull Racing candidate, so then the argument you put is, does it make sense to keep going?”
Perez signed a two-year extension with Red Bull after last year’s Monaco Grand Prix, meaning his current deal runs through to the end of next season.
Nevertheless, Red Bull have some decisions to make. Ricciardo is on loan at AlphaTauri, though this could potentially be extended to 2024.
Yuki Tsunoda is on a rolling one-year deal, while Liam Lawson is waiting for the chance to jump into an F1 seat.
“I think 2025, it’s just good always to have options,” Horner said.
“I mean, Max is fixed till ’28. Checo’s contract runs the end of next year. If he, if Checo delivers, we’ll keep going with Checo.
“If he doesn’t, for whatever reason, then it’s… but that won’t be just restricted to AlphaTauri drivers, because there’s an awful lot of drivers up and down the pit lane that would like to drive a Red Bull car.”
