Sergio Pérez is completely sure about the fact that he will be able to retain his seat at Red Bull in the upcoming 2025 season. In spite of not being able to perform on teammate and four times Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen, the Mexican driver, who had joined the team in 2021, is confident in the contract extension he has signed during the current season, which should have him be a Red Bull driver until the end of 2026.
“Nothing has changed since before in terms of what I’ve said for the entire year. I got a contract for next year and I will be driving for Red Bull next year.”
100% sure
The doubts on the truth of his statement arise from the rather poor form he has been showing as of lately, as well as the increasing reports claiming his days at the team are numbered. In fact, Perez’s latest race win dates back to over a year ago, in the 2023 Azerbaijan round and his latest podium in the Chinese weekend. Even more so, his best racing finish following the summer break was a P6 at Zandvoort.
Pérez is also the driver with the largest points gap to his teammate, with 277 points separating him from Verstappen. This distance is bigger than the sum of all the gaps between the other 9 driver pairings combined (254).
When asked again about how sure he is to be on the Formula 1 grid in 2025 for Red Bull, Perez had no doubts: “I already said, mate, nothing further to add. I have a contract for next year so nothing further to add.”
No room for doubts
A Red Bull shareholder meet is set to take place at the beginning of the upcoming week, with the 2025 driver line-up certain to be a talking point and Racing Bull drivers Lawson and Tsunoda being considered as replacements.
Nevertheless, Pérez remains positive on the instance: “To be honest I haven’t been much into it for sure. I have seen the rumours but nothing different to the last couple of months.
“In that regard nothing further to add. I already said it in the last six months, that I’m here. I renewed with the team earlier in the year and I’m here to be the driver for the team next year and it’s where my full focus is.”
Reckoning the fact that his 2024 has not gone according to plan, the former Racing Point driver has already his sight set on the new season, but still feels the support from Red Bull.
“I think it’s just important to stay in it together because, like I said, the season hasn’t been the greatest. But, at the end of the day, there’s a reason why they renewed me, and they know that I still can do it and that’s an important factor.”
Full focus on Abu Dhabi
Pérez is also feeling hopeful for his final race of the year, as he feels lately his performances have been improving.
“It’s been coming for a while. There’s been a lot of signs in the last few races, but for some reason or another one we just can’t get it all in one.
“So I will really keep pushing for this final race to really try to finish the season on a high because at the end of the day, it’s always nice to go home with a good result.”
He is also upset about the missed chance of winning another Constructors ‘title, but highlights the fact that in his opinion it can’t be all his fault, with car performance falling away since Miami for the most part.
“Of course, of course I take responsibility but also I don’t feel it’s fully all down to one person. I’m obviously part of a big organisation, a big team and it’s very unfortunate that we did not fight any harder for the constructors.”