Sergio Perez is at risk of losing his seat at Red Bull midway through the 2024 season, it has emerged during the British Grand Prix weekend. Perez only signed a new contract last month but the world champions may be able to break it.
Red Bull announced ahead of the Canadian GP that Perez had penned a two-year extension to his deal. It then became clear that he’d have to meet certain performance benchmarks in 2025 to stay put for 2026.
But after the last race in Austria, one journalist questioned whether the Bulls had an ‘escape clause’ that kicked in even earlier. Christian Horner indicated that Perez was under ‘pressure’ after ‘underdelivering’ for a number of races.
The 34-year-old has only scored 15 points across the last five events, a run that has seen him fall to fifth in the championship with less than half the points of teammate Max Verstappen. Since the introduction of the current points system in 2010, only Felipe Massa has been further behind a teammate at this stage of a season (Fernando Alonso at Ferrari in 2012).
If Perez does lose his drive, then Daniel Ricciardo is the favourite to replace him. That would open up a seat at RB, likely earmarked for Liam Lawson.
Red Bull have previously demoted Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly from the top team to the junior outfit. But there’s no indication as yet that they could do the same with Perez.
Sergio Perez could become a contender for Williams and Audi seats
The only consolation for Perez is that there are multiple vacancies available in F1’s midfield right now. The bottom five teams in the championship all have at least one seat left to fill.
And according to Auto Motor und Sport, the Mexican would be an ‘interesting option’ for Williams and Audi if he became a free agent. Those two teams are pursuing partners for Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg respectively.
The potential departure of Perez would ‘bring a new dynamic to the transfer market’. Teams would ‘suddenly’ be able to sign a vastly experienced driver with plenty of pedigree.
Perez is about to equal Massa in eighth place for all-time race starts with 268. He’s claimed six victories, three pole positions and 39 podiums.
What Helmut Marko has said about Perez and Daniel Ricciardo rumours
Perez has largely struggled since he joined Red Bull in 2021. He’s rarely been able to compete with Verstappen, and while he finished second in the championship last year, the 290-point gap was an F1 record.
But it’s worth remembering that he’d long been one of the most highly-rated drivers in the midfield before he joined the team. He won a Grand Prix with Racing Point in 2020, and scored 10 podiums before he drove a frontrunning car.
Williams and Audi would be banking him on rediscovering that form in 2025. In all likelihood, he would first need to rebuild his damaged confidence, just as Albon has done in recent years.
Helmut Marko insists no decision has been made just yet. Instead, he says Red Bull will evaluate the situation during the summer break, potentially giving Perez three races to save his seat.
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