Gasly dealt blow as Perez signs new deal with Red Bull

Sergio Perez has won two races with Red Bull since his arrival at the start of 2021.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez has put pen to paper on a new deal that keeps him at Red Bull until at least the end of the 2024 season.

After scoring 10 podiums with a combination of Sauber, Force India and Racing Point, and winning the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix with the latter, Red Bull signed the Mexican to replace the departing Alex Albon and partner Max Verstappen last year.

The 32-year-old managed five podiums in his first year with the Austrian outfit, and won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

READ: Red Bull have chosen Max Verstappen as their number one driver

He was also instrumental in helping Verstappen to his maiden championship by fending off Sir Lewis Hamilton in Turkey and Abu Dhabi, but he has seemed determined not to play second fiddle this year.

Perez has stood on the podium four times this season while winning the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend, but it might easily have been more had it not been for a reliability failure in Bahrain followed by a huge slice of Safety Car misfortune in Jeddah.

He has out-qualified Verstappen twice in 2022, and his victory in Monaco, preceded by his tremendous efforts in Spain which saw him lose out on the win to the Dutchman, demonstrating his title credentials after seven rounds of the year.

The Mexican is “extremely happy” to sign a new deal with the Milton Keynes-based side, and is excited to see what they can achieve together.

“For me, this has been an incredible week, winning the Monaco Grand Prix is a dream for any driver and then to follow that with announcing I will continue with the Team until 2024 just makes me extremely happy,” he told the official Red Bull website.

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“I am so proud to be a member of this Team and I feel completely at home here now. We are working very well together and my relationship with Max, on and off the track, is definitely helping drive us forward even more. 

“We have built tremendous momentum as a Team and this season is showing that, I am excited to see where that can take us all in the future.”

Perez’s signature now means that there will be no place for Pierre Gasly when his AlphaTauri expires at the end of next season, so he will either have to sign a new contract with the Italian team or potentially explore options with McLaren or Alpine.

READ: Wolff insists Hamilton is being outperformed by Russell because of ‘bad luck’

Fernando Alonso is out of contract at the French team at the end of 2022, while Daniel Ricciardo has a contract with the Woking-based side.

There is a small chance the Australian may leave before then though, as CEO Zak Brown has hinted that there are “mechanisms” in his contract that may allow them to terminate it following the 32-year-old’s poor run of form.