Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has insisted that Sergio Perez will drive for the team in 2024, as the Austrians “have an agreement with him”.
Horner and Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko have stressed that Perez will race for the team next season, and that his contract will be honoured.
Despite this, the likes of Daniel Ricciardo have continued to be linked to his seat, with many believing that it’ll be the Australian alongside Max Verstappen in 2024, not the Mexican.
Horner has admitted that Perez’s seat is open for 2025 but not for 2024, meaning Ricciardo might struggle to get on the grid next season, should Red Bull promote Liam Lawson to AlphaTauri.
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Regardless of Perez having a contract with Red Bull for 2024, Horner is pleased enough with Perez’s current performances to want to keep him for next season.
“Checo’s situation for next year is clear. He’s a Red Bull Racing driver. We have an agreement with him,” Horner told GPBlog.com, after Perez finished fourth at the Dutch Grand Prix.
“And irrelevant of agreements, we’re pleased with the job he’s doing. You saw his drive today. He was unlucky with the pit lane with the speed limit. He’s second in the World Championship.
“He’s the only driver other than Max to win one Grand Prix this year. It’s easy to beat up on him when the barometer is so high on the other side, but he will be our driver in 2024.”
Perez would’ve finished third on Sunday had he not been slapped with a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit-lane, demoting him to fourth.
Perez sped in pit-lane after actually hitting the pit wall, with the track conditions having become treacherous.
A podium would’ve marked his third in a row, something which would’ve been handy for the 33-year-old.
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Because of his team-mate though, Perez’s performances don’t necessarily look great, but Horner is quick to note that if Verstappen wasn’t on the grid, then Checo would’ve won a few more races.
“You can only look at the performance on the timesheet and the resultsheet. If Max wasn’t there, Checo would have won another four or five races,” Horner added.
“He’s doing his job. He’s second in the World Championship. You saw his performance today. He was unlucky to get the speeding fine. Hopefully, he can add to his wins before the end of the year.”