In 2024, it’s all gone wrong for Sergio Perez. The Red Bull Racing driver looked like he had a strong future lined up for himself, but a challenging season has raised questions about his future in F1.

And, during a recent Formula For Success podcast episode, David Coulthard has warned that he’s dangerously close to losing respect for both Checo and his manager Julian Jakobi.

Coulthard hopes Perez, Red Bull solve problems in ‘adult way’

From the moment Sergio Perez renewed his contract with Red Bull Racing in May of 2024, things have gone downhill — fast.

The Mexican racer started off the year with several strong performances, but before long, Perez seemed to fall into a cycle from which he couldn’t extricate himself. He struggled to make it to Q3 in qualifying, or to finish in the points in the race.

While it’s true that Red Bull didn’t have as dominant a car as it has boasted in the past, Perez’s teammate Max Verstappen was still able to wrap up the World Drivers’ Championship with two Grands Prix left in the season.

Despite the fact that rumors of his staying power had begun to spring up before the summer break, Perez remained with Red Bull throughout the year, even as the junior outfit Racing Bulls swapped Daniel Ricciardo out for Liam Lawson.

But Perez’s F1 career is still very much in doubt.

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The state of Perez’s future was discussed during a recent episode of Formula For Success, a podcast hosted by former racer David Coulthard and ex-team boss Eddie Jordan.

It was Coulthard who raised the concerns of Checo’s future, saying: “Checo is a very good human being, but it’s painful to watch the resistance to the facts, and I can only assume it’s a management play.

“Julian Jakobi is his manager — Julian we know and respect for many years; [he’s an]  intelligent, good manager. But his job is to make sure the money is there.

“So I can only imagine it’s about trying to negotiate the biggest payoff possible to get him to go of his own accord, rather than basically say, ‘Okay, we’re paying you whatever we’d agreed to pay you for next year, but we’re not giving you a race car.’ Which could happen, but it would be such a shame.”

Coulthard stated that he hoped negotiations wouldn’t come to that, because if it did, “I would lose a little bit of respect for Julian and Checo.

“At the end of the day, the data doesn’t lie. If there’s a contract, then of course, a contract should be honored by negotiation.

“But hopefully they can do that in an adult way, rather than, you know, you’ve hurt my feelings and I’m suing you.”

The state of Perez’s contract will very likely remain one of the key talking points throughout this off-season.

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