After the horrific Japanese GP, Horner puts Perez’s Red Bull future in jeopardy.
Red Bull chief Horner acknowledged that he will be considering other drivers for that seat following Perez’s nightmare race at Suzuka, which ended prematurely with zero points.
After Sergio Perez’s contract expires in a year, Red Bull will “explore its options.”.
For the majority of this season, it has been unclear what will happen to the Mexican on the team. He had a strong start with two victories in the first four races, but he hasn’t tasted victory since and hasn’t really challenged teammate Max Verstappen.
There will be plenty of options to potentially replace Perez when his current contract expires the following year. Even internally, Yuki Tsunoda wants to make a case for consideration, and Daniel Ricciardo has made no secret of his desire to return to the elite Red Bull team.
One of those two drivers might be promoted to make room for Liam Lawson, who is pounding on the door for an AlphaTauri seat in Formula 1.
Christian Horner, the team owner, has repeatedly stated his commitment to upholding Perez’s entire contract, but he makes no further guarantees.
The best two drivers who are currently available are what Red Bull Racing wants, he said.
Max [Verstappen] and I are under a long-term contract.
You should look into and consider all of those options because Checo [Perez]’s contract expires at the end of 24.
“Checo is in a tight spot right now and will be eager to extend.
Daniel’s performance, Yuki’s performance, and Liam’s potential in the test and reserve roles will all be watched.
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At the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, Perez’s race was nothing short of a disaster. He had a podium spot in sight as he started fifth on the grid, but from the moment the race started, things started to go wrong.
Before the first corner, he ran into Lewis Hamilton, damaging his own front wing in the process. He changed cars at the end of the opening lap, but he crashed into Kevin Magnussen’s Haas and broke that one as well.
The 33-year-old had already served one punishment for violating the safety car rule and was given another for causing the accident. Red Bull forced him to retire his car first, then used a rule gap to have him return to the track to serve a second penalty before forcing him to leave once more so he wouldn’t receive a penalty at the following race in Qatar.
According to Horner, Perez’s day had “only one good thing,” and that was his clever application of the laws.
It got off to a bad start, he continued, calling it a “shocker” of a race.
It was just one of those weekends after he dive-bombed one of the Haases.
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