Sergio Perez has started off his 2024 campaign on a strong note with three podiums after the first four races of the season. Despite this, the #11 driver’s future with Red Bull and in the sport is marred by a shadow of speculation and doubt. That being said, Perez has given a deadline on when his future with the Milton-Keynes-based team will be cleared out. Formula Passion (as reported on X (formerly Twitter) by Junaid Samodien) quoted Perez as revealing,
“I think it will be a question of time, obviously the driver market, it’s moving and there will definitely be a lot of movement in the next few weeks, so I expect that within a month I’ll really know what I’ll do next year.”
The questions around Perez’s future with the team stem from his apparent pace deficit to Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen and his inability to step up when required. This was exposed during the 2024 Australian GP when Verstappen suffered a DNF on lap three of the race.
In the aftermath, as Carlos Sainz took the win away from Red Bull, calls were made to sack Perez. With the driver market as fluid as it has ever been, many names have cropped up as possible replacements for Perez.
Prime amongst them has been Daniel Ricciardo. However, the Australian’s dwindling form has made this a less likely eventuality. Carlos Sainz has also been touted to make a return to the Red Bull family after a very strong start to the 2024 season.
But as Christian Horner has expressed in the past, the seat is Perez’s to lose. For the #11 driver to still remain a Red Bull driver in the future, the least he has to do is keep up this string of podiums. If the team can still fight for the Constructors’ championship this year, Perez might be in with a chance to get a contract renewal.
F1 politics may dictate Sergio Perez’s future with Red Bull
The F1 paddock is a cutthroat business, and the driver’s market is mainly dominated by politics. There are reports in the paddock that Max Verstappen is lobbying to keep Perez on the team.
This bears the closest resemblance to the case at Mercedes a few years ago when Lewis Hamilton wanted Valtteri Bottas to stay in favor of a newcomer to maintain the status quo within the team.
However, ironically, the three-time world champion himself is rumored to be looking at a way out from the Milton-Keynes-based team. A suspected internal power struggle sees Max Verstappen on one side with Helmut Marko and his father, Jos Verstappen, with Christian Horner on the other.
As the sport moves on towards the summer break, the picture in terms of next year’s grid may get clearer. Historically, the summer break is the peak of F1’s silly season, and 2024 promises to be the same with an extra bit of drama added with high-stakes seats up for grabs.
