Christian Horner has conceded that giving Red Bull a new contract with months to go remaining on his current deal “obviously didn’t work.”

Red Bull opted to extend Perez in June, adding another two seasons to his contract, but six months later and the team are reportedly working to come to an early conclusion.

Christian Horner admits Sergio Perez contract gamble has failed

Even at the time, rewarding Perez with a new deal seemed a strange move given he had plenty of time left on his current contract and was already 62 points behind team-mate Max Verstappen. But Red Bull had hoped the new contract would give Perez the job security he needed to flourish, ultimately that has not transpired.

“At the time, Sergio was performing extremely well,” Horner said. “I think he had four podiums in the first five races. And 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. And I think Checo, 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. He’s extremely popular within the team. He’s worked very hard over the four years that he’s been with us and 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 more is frustrated with the results than Checo, from his own high standards. And that’s obviously been painful for him, for the team and 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.”

Horner though would not be drawn on Red Bull’s support for Perez beyond Abu Dhabi, with rumours circulating from a complete removal to the Mexican continuing in an ambassadorial role.

PlanetF1.com recommends

F1 driver contracts: What is the contract status of every driver on the 2024 grid?

Two F1 drivers ‘ready’ for Sergio Perez seat as final decision looms

“Checo is our driver. He remains our driver, contracted to the team,” Horner said. “And obviously, this season hasn’t gone to anyone’s plan, particularly with Checo’s performance and since Monaco, it’s been very, very tough for him.

“And 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, you know, only three years to that 2021 final, you know, two Constructors’ Championship 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. And, you know, we’ll sit down and discuss things after the season.

“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. We’ve got two talented drivers in VCARB. But until the situation is clear with Sergio and what he wants to do, everything else is purely speculation.”

Read next: Christian Horner strikes back with ‘rather a terrier than a wolf’