Red Bull are expected to hand Sergio Perez a new contract for the 2025 season despite his recent drop-off in form. It seems his solid showings in March and April could be enough to sway the team.
Perez finished second behind Max Verstappen in three of the first five Grands Prix, and he also came home third in China. However, after missing out on the podium in Miami, he could only manage eighth at Imola after a dismal Q2 exit.
Things somehow got even worse in Monaco as he fell at the first hurdle in qualifying before crashing out of the race. The stewards decided his heavy accident with the two Haas cars was a racing incident.
Perez has now fallen to fifth in the championship, 62 points behind leader Verstappen. But unless he produces more Imola and Monaco-esque weekends in the coming races, he’ll be offered an extension.
The Mexican would be entering his fifth season with the team after a period of uncertainty around his future. At the start of the year, Daniel Ricciardo looked ‘dead-cert’ to replace him if he delivered at RB.
But Ricciardo’s struggles have taken him out of the picture. Carlos Sainz is on the market as he prepares to leave Ferrari but Red Bull have elected not to sign him for fear of reigniting the tension with Verstappen from his Toro Rosso days.
Journalist can’t understand why Christian Horner isn’t keen on Yuki Tsunoda
The news also comes as a blow to Yuki Tsunoda, who’s been shining for junior team RB this season. Tsunoda has thrashed eight-time race-winner Ricciardo 7-1 in their qualifying battle, and 6-2 in the races.
He’s scored 19 of RB’s 24 points, enough to rank him inside the top 10 in the championship. With five top-10 finishes in eight events, he’s shown a real consistency too.
And yet, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner doesn’t seem him as a ‘viable’ candidate, and possibly never will. Speaking on The Race’s YouTube channel, journalist Edd Straw called that stance ‘baffling’ given that Tsunoda has ticked every box’ on paper.
He believes that Verstappen and Tsunoda is the strongest line-up the Milton Keynes outfit could put together from its driver pool. There’s ‘no good reason’ to reject the Japanese star for 2025.
Straw said of Red Bull: “It also has no interest in promoting Yuki Tsunoda to replace Perez despite his excellent form in the second RB team. The steadfast refusal to consider Tsunoda is baffling.
“He’s under contract to Red Bull, which has an option on him for next season, is performing very well and consistently beating Daniel Ricciardo and has led RB to sixth in the championship so far. He is, in no uncertain terms, Red Bull’s second-best driver after Max Verstappen.
“But despite that, Tsunoda is not seriously in the Red Bull racing picture, and it seems he never will be. Horner clearly doesn’t view him as a viable driver and there appears to be no good reason why.”
Why Red Bull are deliberately keeping ‘sub-par’ Perez alongside Max Verstappen
Perez could quite conceivably cost Red Bull the constructors’ championship this year. Ferrari have closed the gap to 24 points after Charles Leclerc’s Monaco victory.
Both the Scuderia and McLaren have made sizeable performance gains this year to create a genuine fight at the front. While Verstappen remains the clear favourite for the drivers’ title, recent evidence suggests Perez may not be the dependable second driver the team needs.
A three-tenth gap to the Dutchman likely meant second place last year, but now it could conceivably put Perez sixth. By the time the championship shakes out, however, Red Bull’s decision may already have been made.
Retaining the 34-year-old also runs the risk of losing the extremely talented Tsunoda. Three different teams are interested in signing him for next year.
So, what’s the upside? Well, one racing driver reckons that their goal is to keep Verstappen happy amid the constant speculation around the Dutchman’s future.
If that’s what they can achieve, then they may view both Tsunoda and the constructors’ title as legitimate sacrifices. After all, the 26-year-old has already established himself as an all-time great, and the most coveted driver on the grid.
The post 'No good reason': Journalist says Christian Horner has taken 'baffling' stance on 2025 Red Bull candidate appeared first on F1 Oversteer.