Red Bull’s decision to renew Sergio Perez’s contract may go down as one of the worst of the 2024 F1 season. They’ll surely be regretting it as they debate tearing it up.
The team announced ahead of the Canadian GP in June that Perez had signed a new deal. It was a one-plus-one agreement, guaranteeing 2025 – or so it seemed – and integrating an option for 2026.
Perez’s performances in the first six races met expectations – four podiums, and a 100% top-five-record. But after Miami, he started to wobble.
A Q2 exit at the Emilia Romagna GP was followed by a Q1 elimination and a DNF in Monaco. In these circumstances, Christian Horner tried to reassure Perez, theorising that the uncertainty was getting to him.
But there was no material benefit. If anything, the Mexican’s performances got worse.
In one of the most remarkable stats of the season, he scored just 51 points in the final three-quarters of the season. He’d managed nearly double that (101) in the first quarter alone.
Red Bull wanted ‘stability’ of Sergio Perez extension amid Jos Verstappen ‘stirring’
Red Bull are facing an £11m payout to Perez if they have to choose to part ways. He could take on an ambassadorial role, but even then they’d be shelling out enormous sums to a non-racing employee.
It’s hard to see Perez’s June renewal as anything other than an expensive mistake. But Motorsport Magazine’s Adam Cooper has painted it in a new light.
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Horner made reference to ‘continuity and stability’ in the press release six months ago. This was in the context of Adrian Newey’s exit – he resigned in the spring – and Jos Verstappen’s public ‘stirring’.
Most notably, Verstappen warned Red Bull could ‘fall apart’ after they lost legendary designer Newey. This, in turn, heightened uncertainty around his son’s future.
The Christian Horner comments that angered Sergio Perez fans after Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Perhaps Horner hoped that extending Perez would answer one of the many questions swirling around the Red Bull team in the early months of the season. But within a month, the Milton Keynes outfit were reportedly considering whether they had a way out of their agreement.
For months, Perez has maintained that he has a contract and therefore will be racing in 2025. But his tone changed after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
According to F1TV’s Lawrence Barretto, Perez ‘wavered in his confidence’ for the first time all year as he stood in the media pen. Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda are both hoping to take his seat.
Horner made no mention of Perez as he reflected on Red Bull’s season in a social media post at the weekend. This understandably enraged his fans, but one can see why he didn’t want to focus on the driver who potentially cost his team the constructors’ title.
