Sergio Perez is not guaranteed a Red Bull race seat come the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP, Helmut Marko saying “maybe” it will work out for the Mexican driver.

For months Perez has been the subject of rumours and speculation, the 34-year-old hanging onto his Red Bull race seat by his fingertips – and sponsorship.

Helmut Marko: Maybe it will work out…

He has not only failed to reach the podium in the last 16 races, but during that period has scored a mere 66 points leaving him down in eighth place in the Drivers’ Championship, and hurting Red Bull in the Constructors’.

The team has fallen from P1 to P3, 49 points off the pace of the two-car scoring McLaren outfit and 13 behind Ferrari. It is set to cost Red Bull millions in prize money.

And it could cost Perez his race seat before the season is over.

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Although it has been widely reported that Perez could be out at the end of the season, replaced by either VCARB’s Liam Lawson or Williams’ Franco Colapinto, Marko isn’t even willing to guarantee the six-time grand prix winner will be in the car in Abu Dhabi.

Asked by OE24 if Perez could ‘vacate’ his seat before the finale, the motorsport advisor replied: “We’ve still got three races left, so we should be able to get halfway through them. Maybe it will work out for us after all.”

Lawson is the most immediate threat to Perez with the VCARB rookie scoring four points in his three races with the junior team while Perez has managed just six in the same period despite driving the RB20.

But it’s not all doom and gloom for Red Bull as the team is on the cusp of winning the Drivers’ Championship title with Verstappen, his fourth in succession.

The Red Bull driver will line up in Las Vegas 62 points ahead of Lando Norris meaning he only needs to outscore him by three to wrap up the title with two races to spare.

“If we win the title again this year, it will be mainly down to Max,” declared Marko. “With his exceptional driving skills, he covered up all the phases in which the car really wasn’t good.”

Such are his odds in Vegas, the 81-year-old reckons the four-time World Champion t-shirts have been packed.

“Verstappen’s manager, as I know him, certainly has it in his luggage,” he said.

However, even if Perez does see out the season with Red Bull, he’s being tipped to leave at the end of the year with Lawson or Colapinto taking his place. The latter has been the subject of different rumours, one claiming he’ll be in the RB21 alongside Verstappen while the other suggests it is a VCARB seat with Lawson moving up to Red Bull.

Red Bull have blown hot and cold on the rumours with every comment suggesting Perez is out followed up by another saying they have a contract for F1 2025.

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