Despite rumors swirling around that Sergio Perez is going to be sacked at the end of the 2023 season, Christian Horner has been adamant that he intends to keep the Mexican. This is because of the contract Perez has with Red Bull, per reports on X.
However, according to The Race’s Scott Mitchell-Malm, Horner’s words deceive the reality. He believes that despite Checo doing a comparatively better job than the likes of Pierre Gasly when he was Max Verstappen’s teammate, Horner’s attitude towards Perez is alarmingly similar and ominous.
Horner: But, you know, we’ll give him all the support that we can to ensure that he finishes second, but there’s no prerequisite that if he doesn’t finish second, you’re out.
SOURCE: @PitDebrief | @JOC__1991
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) October 31, 2023
“If there is a contract and he wants Perez to drive it next year, why would it just be the intention, it would happen, right? It might just be a nuance of the language that Christian uses but I feel like it’s a bit more deliberate than that,” began the British presenter on The Race’s F1 Podcast.
While it hasn’t been made public knowledge, many reliable sources have exposed that Perez has an ultimatum to deal with in the remaining few races this year. If he cannot hold on to P2 in the standings, the Milton-Keynes-based team will sack him.
That being said, Horner has seemingly taken a U-turn from that stance. When quizzed about the ultimatum, Horner said, “It’s not as binary as that. It’s, you know, you’ve got to look at the circumstances and so on. You know, Checo has an agreement with us for next year. And that’s our intention for him to be in the car in 2024.”
Needless to say, given how unpredictable the team has been with its drivers, Horner’s assurances have to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Will Christian Horner keep his word about Sergio Perez?
Back during the 2019 season, Pierre Gasly was heavily under the spotlight. Driving alongside Max Verstappen, Gasly struggled to find confidence, which affected his results considerably. Despite Horner reiterating his faith in the Frenchman publicly, Alex Albon replaced him mid season. A year later, Albon suffered a similar fate when Perez came in.
Now, with Red Bull returnee, Daniel Ricciardo making some really impressive moves at AlphaTauri, the Milton-Keynes-based team could be lured away with the prospect of the prodigal son returning. To do that, they need to sack Perez.
Alexander Albon and Pierre Gasly swapped their seats for the race, with Albon taking Gasly’s place at Red Bull and Gasly returning to Toro Rosso to fill the seat vacated by Albon 🔄 pic.twitter.com/8uagZfot5e
— Autosport (@autosport) July 12, 2023
Currently, Ricciardo is auditioning for a 2025 seat with the Bulls. However, if Perez cannot improve his results in the remaining three races of the season, he could very well be out and making way for the Honey Badger to jump into a Red Bull seat again next season.
With Lewis Hamilton breathing down his neck, Sergio Perez has a mountain to climb as he looks to retain P2 in the standings and his 2024 Red Bull seat.
