Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has spoken out about the future line-up of the Red Bull F1 team. Especially a message for Sergio Perez: If he performs well, he can stay.
In recent months there has been a lot of speculation about the future of Sergio Perez. The Mexican put in a very disappointing performance in qualifying. His championship deficit grew from 14 points to 125 points at the summer break. Just before that break, Perez performed a little better, but he also failed to win in Belgium, despite the fact that Verstappen had to start the race from P6.
There was mainly speculation whether Red Bull would not terminate the contract with Sergio Perez early or replace him with another driver at Red Bull next year. Team boss Christian Horner has now expressed some form of support. In fact, if Sergio Perez manages to perform well, he may even race for the team in 2025.
“We have a contract with Perez,” Horner told Speedcafe. “We are happy with Checo, he will be our driver next year. But for us it has always been good to have AlphaTauri, and before that Toro Rosso, so we can train drivers with the potential for Red Bull Racing.”
“That’s why we sidelined Nyck de Vries, I didn’t feel he was a Red Bull candidate. Then you have to ask yourself whether it makes sense to continue.”
As far as 2025 is concerned, Sergio Perez now also has a perspective, if he performs well, he can also be Max Verstappen’s teammate in 2025.
“I think it’s good to have some options for 2025,” Horner said. “I mean, Max has a contract until 2028. Checo has a contract until next year.”
“If Checo performs, we keep Checo. If he doesn’t, for whatever reason, then we’re not limited to the AlphaTauri drivers.”
“After all, there are an incredible number of drivers in the pit lane who would love to drive the Red Bull F1 car.”