Sergio Perez is in line to receive a new contract at Red Bull, it emerged this week. The timing of this news is certainly surprising.
Perez is currently enduring his poorest run of form all season. He hasn’t finished on the podium at any of the last three races, and hasn’t reached Q3 in the last two.
He had to settle for eighth from 11th on the grid at Imola as teammate Max Verstappen won the race. And he then endured a horror weekend in Monaco as he followed up a Q1 exit with a race-ending crash involving the two Haas cars on lap one.
But unless he continues to have weekends like this, which is unlikely given the strength of the RB20, Red Bull are set to keep Perez for 2025. One racing driver has claimed that the team are willing to accept ‘sub-par’ performances just to keep Verstappen happy.
Indeed, the Dutchman rarely has to worry about the threat from the other side of the garage. He’s already 62 points ahead of Perez in the drivers’ championship with a third of the season gone.
But the problem for Red Bull is that rivals McLaren and Ferrari have closed up. This could put their hopes of retaining the constructors’ title in jeopardy, with the Scuderia now just 24 points behind.
Ralf Schumacher says Sergio Perez helps Red Bull afford Max Verstappen
Speaking on the formel1.de YouTube channel, former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher pointed to the financial benefit of keeping Perez. The Mexican brings several sponsors from his home country, including telecommunications company Telcel.
Schumacher says this enables Red Bull to afford the salary of world champion Verstappen. According to Spotrac, the 26-year-old earns a whopping £848k-a-week at Milton Keynes.
That number is only likely to go up in the future. Mercedes have reportedly offered Verstappen a ‘world-record’ salary, potentially forcing Red Bull to respond if they wish to keep him.
“You shouldn’t forget, as long as Max Verstappen stays, that’s what I’ve heard at least once, the budget limits are relatively tight at Red Bull, and Perez brings money,” Schumacher said.
Red Bull could lose two drivers thanks to Sergio Perez stance
Much as Red Bull may benefit significantly from Perez’s connections, keeping him could hurt them in multiple ways. In addition to putting their constructors’ prospects at risk, they risk losing two of the best talents on their books.
Yuki Tsunoda may look for a way out after being snubbed despite his excellent form for junior team RB. Journalist Edd Straw says it’s ‘baffling’ that Christian Horner isn’t keen on Tsunoda, who’s out of contract at the end of the year.
Even if Tsunoda stays at RB, then they could potentially be saying goodbye to Liam Lawson. That would be four out of four seats filled, with Daniel Ricciardo still in favour.
Lawson has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave if Red Bull don’t find him a Formula 1 seat for 2025. And with ‘plenty’ of teams likely to be interested, he may well decide to activate it.
Externally, Red Bull may be accused of abandoning a meritocratic approach to their line-up. But Horner and co. might see it as the necessary price of keeping Verstappen.
The post 'I've heard at least once': Ralf Schumacher says we 'shouldn't forget' key reason Red Bull may Sergio Perez appeared first on F1 Oversteer.