Christian Horner Won't Say If Sergio Perez Will Finish Out 2024
Back in June, Formula 1 veteran Sergio Perez signed a two-year contract extension with Red Bull Racing, one that would extend his time with the team through the end of the 2026 season. Just five months later, however, Checo now seems to be in danger of leaving the team's senior F1 operation even before the end of his previous deal.
The latest worry for Perez comes directly from team principal Christian Horner. The Red Bull boss would not confirm to the Associated Press that Perez would be at the program's leading team past next weekend's race in Brazil, instead suggesting that "difficult decisions have to be made."
As Horner would go on to note, Perez is at risk for one obvious reason: Red Bull has now fallen to third in the F1 constructor's championship. With teammate Max Verstappen still handily leading the driver's championship, the blame for the team's under-performance in the other title hunt lies only with Perez.
Verstappen is responsible for more than two-thirds of the team's 512 points and, while he has not won a race since June's Spanish Grand Prix, has not finished worse than sixth since March. Perez, meanwhile, has not finished on the podium since the fifth round of the season. He has finished sixth or better in just seven of the year's 20 rounds, and he has only done so once since starting the year with six straight finishes in the top five. Perez sits eighth in the driver's championship, behind second-ranked drivers from Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes. That also places him last among all drivers at teams that have won a race this season.
The performance is a major issue, and Red Bull may believe that they can only win the 2024 constructor's championship if another driver subs into Perez's car over the year's final three races. That decision would likely come in the two week break between races in Brazil and Las Vegas, the only gap between two "triple-header" runs to end the season.
Perez remains under contract with Red Bull Racing and, until something changes, has been announced as a member of the team's senior operation through the end of the 2026 season. It is unclear if a demotion to end the 2024 season would impact his announced plans to race with the team in 2025 and 2026.
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