The Red Bull seat of Sergio Perez is one of the most valued possessions in F1 currently. The Mexican driver is currently in the final year of his contract and practically fighting to renew his contract. All this while, drivers like Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsuonda are in the hunt as well. However, Peter Windsor claims the battle is over as Red Bull management has already signed an extension with Perez.
Windsor was present in the Australian GP paddock recently and claimed to pick up some chatter from reliable sources. Speaking in his post-race analysis video on YouTube, the F1 journo recalled, “I heard in the paddock area from various sources that are pretty reliable that Sergio has already renewed his contract for next year.”
Windsor questioned the reasoning of Red Bull as well as Perez rushing the deal. He cited the example of Lando Norris already signing a new deal with McLaren, which makes the Perez deal look haphazard. Meanwhile, the former Ferrari General Manager also reflected on the chances of Carlos Sainz rejoining Red Bull going nil.
Sainz, as per Windsor, now has no other choice but to sign with Mercedes and drive alongside George Russell. The 71-year-old, however, believes it wouldn’t be all smooth sailing for the Spaniard with the Silver Arrows.
He expects Russell to make things “difficult” for Sainz which could make the deal a stop-gap, one-year engagement. That is until Audi joins the grid in 2026 and Sainz joins them.
Does Sergio Perez’s extension mean game over for Daniel Ricciardo?
Until the Australian GP, Sergio Perez played his part perfectly for Red Bull. The Mexican driver played the perfect deputy to Max Verstappen, finishing P2 in Bahrain, as well as Saudi Arabia. Perez, however, fumbled in the qualifying in Australia, getting a penalty for impeding Nico Hulkenberg, which slipped him to P6 from P3 on the starting grid.
The 34-year-old failed to overcome the difficulties the car was facing and ultimately finished the race in P5. While that may seem like an underwhelming result, team boss Christian Horner has revealed otherwise. Horner talked about the damage that Perez’s car took while overtaking Fernando Alonso. While the #11 driver was unaware of the damage, he did well to deliver a satisfactory result with a slower car.
️| Christian Horner reports damage on Checo’s car:
“He’s probably not aware of it, but he picked up a bit of damage as soon as he got past Fernando. He lost a significant amount of downforce from the floor of the car. Then as soon as you get that then your tyre deg just gets… pic.twitter.com/WTzLDEDKvx
— RBR News (@redbulletin) March 24, 2024
Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, started the season on an underwhelming note. The Honey Badger has failed to score any points until now and the disappointing run continued in the home race in Australia. Meanwhile, mistakes have begun to creep into his drive as was evident in Jeddah. Towards the end of the race, Ricciardo spun around but avoided any contact with the barriers.
Helmut Marko is far from impressed with his performances and has made it clear that the 34-year-old needs to do something extraordinary to prove his worth. Former team owner, Eddie Jordan, has flagged concern for Ricciardo as well. The Irishman has urged the Honey Badger to make some immediate improvements, otherwise he might end up losing his RB seat while pursuing the Red Bull one.
