Red Bull boss Christian Horner has revealed the team will work out the “appropriate way forward” with Sergio Perez when it sits down to discuss his Formula 1 future.
The speculation regarding Perez’s current seat has heightened in the past week amid growing reports that Red Bull has decided not to continue with him next season.
But while he insisted last week that he will remain a Red Bull driver in 2025, Perez admitted post-race in Abu Dhabi that talks will be held this week about his situation.
Perez’s disastrous campaign ended with a retirement which has seen him finish eighth in the championship, a colossal 285 points behind team-mate Max Verstappen.
“Well, look, I mean, obviously those discussions will happen between Checo and the team,” Horner told media including Motorsport Week.
“We’ll sit down with him and reflect on the season and obviously, where it’s gone wrong, and collectively work out what is the right and the appropriate way forward.
“I mean, Checo has been a great servant of this team.
“Back to this race in 2021 the contribution that he made, ’22 and ’23 Constructors’ World Championships, five race victories, second in last year’s Drivers’ Championship.
“You know, he’s done an awful lot for this team. And we’ll sit down and reflect on this season and how we move forward.”
Horner reiterated that Red Bull will address Perez’s position prior to reviewing the possible alternatives amid rumours Liam Lawson is heading the race to replace him.
“There’s no immediate rush,” he added when asked about a possible timeline. “We have all the permutations available to us internally.
“So I think the first thing is to sit down with Checo and have that conversation now the season’s completed.”
Pressed on whether there is a scenario where Perez will continue alongside Verstappen in 2025, Horner replied: “He’s still our driver.
“So it would be wrong for me to speculate on what next year may look like until he and I have sat down and discussed this year and we reflect on it as a team.”
Red Bull wants both drivers delivering in 2025
Perez’s considerable deficit to his team-mate resigned Red Bull to coming third in the Constructors’ Championship, despite Verstappen securing the title by 63 points.
With 2025 poised to have an even tighter battle at the sharp end, Horner has stressed that Red Bull must have two drivers producing huge points hauls each weekend.
“Look, I think you can see the importance of having two drivers scoring on a regular basis in the Constructors’ Championship is crucial,” he acknowledged.
“Ferrari will be strong with their line-up next year. McLaren have a strong line-up. Mercedes will have an inexperienced driver in one of their seats [with Kimi Antonelli].
“And so, you know, for our team, it’s very important that both of our drivers are delivering, and there’s not a significant gap.”
Red Bull working to improve car’s operating range
But although he has acknowledged the squad’s troubles with the RB20, Horner highlighted that Verstappen managed to attain nine victories compared to Perez’s zero.
“Obviously the benchmark is always your team-mates,” he explained.
“And the car has won nine races with Max at the wheel. It’s had 10 poles. It’s had, I forget how many podiums, but a significant amount of podiums. And fastest laps.
“It’s been far from the easiest car. And Max, is the hardest team-mate in the world to have.
“So it’s a difficult, difficult job to sit next to Max to extract the maximum out of the car.
“And for sure, [the] RB20 has been one of the more challenging cars that we’ve produced.
“Its operational window for maximum performance has been very, very narrow, and that’s something that we’ll be working to broaden next year.”
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