As the Mexico City GP ended in disaster for Sergio Perez, speculation around his future with the team has increased further. With there being multiple reports of the team ending their association with Perez, several reports also claim he might call time on his career, due to an unavailability of teams interested in signing him.
Following an eventful weekend in Mexico, even F1 journalists had a lot to speculate, as they kept a close watch on how Daniel Ricciardo would perform after out qualifying Perez while driving an AlphaTauri. It gave way for them to seriously consider the possibility of Red Bull parting ways with the Mexican despite his contract running till the end of the 2024 season.
🏎️ Perez’s Home Race Drama! 🌟 Sergio Perez makes a superb start but collides with Charles Leclerc into Turn 1, forcing him to retire. Reflecting on the incident, he acknowledges taking a risk that came at a high cost. High-stakes racing in Mexico City! #SergioPerez #MexicoGP… pic.twitter.com/XVcgVnAOdR
— Latest Sports News (@latest_snews) October 30, 2023
Should this be the case, Red Bull stands to make no monetary loss, as explained by veteran F1 Journalist Joe Saward in his blog. According to Saward, F1 contracts often have performance-based clauses in them, which determine a driver’s payout. Given the stark difference in both Red Bull drivers’ performances, the team could stand to gain rather than lose should they decide to part ways with Perez.
“Driver contracts these days tend to have performance clauses based on percentages of a team-mate’s score. After the Mexico City GP, Perez’s 240 points were equivalent to 48.8 percent of Max Verstappen’s total of 491. If Perez is required to score at least 50 percent of the points of his team-mate, this could be grounds for the contract to be cancelled, without the need for compensation.”
While the team has a tough decision to make, in financial terms, Christian Horner continues to adopt an optimistic approach when it comes to the future of Perez. The British engineer is in favor of seeing Perez fulfill his contract with the team before there are officials of bringing in a replacement.
Christian Horner confident in Sergio Perez achieving Red Bull’s goals
Following the feature race in Mexico, Christian Horner spoke of the contrasting performances by both his drivers. As he spoke about the crash of Perez, Horner admitted to being gutted about the incident as he showed faith in the Mexican driver’s ability. Horner mentioned there were strong chances of Perez finishing on the podium, as he had one of the strongest starts of anyone on the grid.
Sergio Perez better watch his rearview mirror because Lewis Hamilton is making a comeback!
Now, he is only 20 points behind with 3 races to go.#Formula1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/BmFlJfCxLt— Stamentum (@stamentum) October 29, 2023
Given the same, Horner added there was no need to blame Perez for the incident as it was only a racing incident where Perez tried to make the most of his launch. The 49-year-old is still hopeful of Red Bull achieving a 1-2 finish in the driver’s standings.
As Lewis Hamilton closes in on Perez, Horner is confident the 13 years’ worth of experience of the 33-year-old will come in handy in stopping the Briton from eating up the 20 remaining points between the two drivers. With three races remaining, there is still plenty of time for either driver to ascertain two-thirds of the top three positions. While Hamilton looks like the favorite to finish second, Horner hopes Perez will find his form and secure P2 in the driver’s championship.
