As the 2024 F1 season draws to a close, it appears that the fate of the Pérez-Red Bull 2025 collaboration is uncertain. With one round to go, Sergio Pérez sits in eighth place—277 points behind his world champion teammate Max Verstappen.
The battle for the constructors’ championship has gone down to the wire in Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately, Red Bull is not competing for the title, largely due to the Mexican driver’s massive slump in performance.
Verstappen managed to clinch the teams’ crown for Red Bull solo last season in the dominant RB19. However, with them seemingly reaching the limit of their development curve and teams like McLaren and Ferrari making substantial performance gains, Pérez’s poor form has left the Milton Keynes outfit on the back foot.
As reported by the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Red Bull is in talks with Pérez about terminating his contract early or adjusting it. Moreover, there are speculations that the six-time race winner will receive financial compensation and serve as an ambassador for the reigning world champions instead.
Ahead of the F1 Abu Dhabi GP, team principal Christian Horner addressed the claims about the Pérez-Red Bull 2025 trajectory. He also talked about the reasoning behind their decision to offer Perez an early renewal in June. Furthermore, the Brit shared his thoughts on the kind of mentality they expect from a young driver aspiring for the second Red Bull seat.
Will Pérez’s performance in Abu Dhabi determine the chances of Pérez-Red Bull 2025 collaboration?
On Thursday, Liam Lawson claimed that he would have more information about his future in F1 and the Red Bull family next week. Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda will drive the RB20 in the post-season Abu Dhabi test.
With regard to how much influence Pérez’s results this weekend and Tsunoda’s performance in the test will have on their decision, Horner clarified that the post-season test with the Japanese driver has been in the pipeline for a while.
Highlighting Pérez’s dip in performance since Monaco this year, Horner stated that they would have the conversation regarding his future trajectory after the Abu Dhabi GP. Nonetheless, he also revealed that the team is sympathetic towards the Mexican and his on-track struggles.
Additionally, Horner acknowledged his contributions to Verstappen clinching the drivers’ title in 2021 and Red Bull winning consecutive constructors’ championships in 2022 and 2023.
“First of all, the test with Yuki has been planned for some time. It’s been on the cards for, I think, three months or something like that. So that’s something that’s been scheduled.
“Now, obviously, Checo [Pérez] is our driver. He remains our driver, contracted to the team. Obviously, this season hasn’t gone to anyone’s plan, particularly with Checo’s performance. Since Monaco, it’s been very, very tough for him.
“So inevitably, once we get this race out of the way, we’ll sit down and discuss the future.
“But Checo has been a very important part of our team. He’s done a tremendous job for us. If you think back only three years to that 2021 final, you know, two constructors’ championships that he’s contributed to as well.
“So there’s huge respect for Checo within the team and nobody likes to see him struggling like the way he has. We’ll sit down and discuss things after the season.”
Yet to make up his mind, Horner commends the Red Bull talent pool
Despite the speculations that Red Bull will cut Pérez’s contract short, Horner confirmed that they have not arrived at a decision yet regarding the Pérez-Red Bull 2025 partnership.
However, the Brit was quick to underscore the immense talent of their junior drivers and the duo at RB, thereby implying that Milton Keynes would encounter no difficulty in finding a suitable replacement.
“We’re fortunate that we’ve got a tremendous pool of talent.
“It was good to see Isack Hadjar getting a run out as well in free practice there. We’ve got two talented drivers in VCARB.
“But until the situation is clear with Sergio [Pérez] and what he wants to do, everything else is purely speculation.”
Why Pérez was given an early extension
In June, Red Bull announced that Pérez had extended his contract for two more seasons. Referring to his previous statements about the renewal being crucial for the stability of the team, a journalist asked Horner to clarify why he had felt the need to sign the Guadalajara native so early.
The Brit responded that Pérez’s satisfactory performance at the beginning of the 2024 season had inspired their decision. He also added that they had hoped the extension would enable him to perform better without the uncertainty hanging over his head.
“Well, obviously at the time, Sergio [Pérez] was performing extremely well. I think he had four podiums in the first five races.
“In order to settle his mind and extend that run of form for the rest of the season, we elected to go early, which obviously didn’t work. So, that’s just life sometimes.”
Horner acknowledging the merits of Pérez-Red Bull partnership so far
Dismissing that he harbours any regrets, Horner reflected on the crucial role Pérez has played in their recent success. He asserted that one should take into account the Mexican’s contributions to Red Bull beyond the current season.
Moreover, the 51-year-old maintained that the team will continue to support Pérez as he hits the track for the final time this year on Sunday.
“I think for Checo [Pérez], you have to look beyond this year for the contribution that he’s made to our team. He’s been a great team player; he’s a great person. And he’s extremely popular within the team. He’s worked very hard over the four years that he’s been with us.
“And yeah, he’s played a vital role in the constructors’ championships that we’ve won, the five Grand Prix victories that he had in our car. It’s been the most successful pairing that we’ve ever had finishing first and second in the drivers’ championship last year.
“So I think nobody is more frustrated with the results than Checo, from his own high standards. And that’s obviously been painful for him, for the team.
“We’ve worked tremendously hard to try and support him and we’ll continue to do so all the way up until the chequered flag on Sunday, where hopefully he can get a good result at the final race of the year.”
What kind of mentality Red Bull wants their second driver to have
Pérez remarked on Thursday that one shouldn’t underestimate the difficulty of teaming up with Verstappen and that he wouldn’t have liked to be in the shoes of a young driver gunning for that position.
When asked to address these statements, Horner acknowledged that Verstappen sets a very high bar for his teammates to clear. In terms of what they look for, he explained that they prefer a good team player with a strong character.
Horner also added that they require a driver capable of focusing solely on their own performance, regardless of how they fare in comparison to the Dutchman.
“Well, I think probably being Max’s [Verstappen] teammate [is] the toughest drive in Formula 1 because he sets such a high standard, such a high bar. And his performances are just relentless.
“So anybody sat in the car alongside him has got to have tremendous strength of character and have the ability obviously to work within a team and be able to focus on themselves and to a degree almost ignore what’s going on in the other car.
“Because I think that’s where mentally, it becomes incredibly tough, as we’ve seen with many of the greats. I’m sure when you work with Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna previously, teammates had a similarly hard job. And Max now joins that elite group of people. It’s as simple as that.”
