Sergio Perez makes notable future hint in TV interview over Red Bull troubles

Despite continued rumours his Red Bull days are numbered, Sergio Perez believes he’ll still be around in 2025 having spoken about the important “next six months” for the team.

Perez’s future has been the subject of many a rumour this season, as it was last year. But whereas in 2023 he was able to pull himself out of his slump to finish runner-up to Max Verstappen, this year his struggles are ongoing as he sits P8 in the Drivers’ standings.

Sergio Perez clearly believes he’s not going anywhere

Perez is the only driver from the top four teams who has not won a Grand Prix this season. He also has the fewest podiums with just four, all of which came in the first five races of the championship.

Since his P3 in China, he’s failed to bring in big points hauls with just two top-six results in 15 Grands Prix.

That’s not only hurt him in the Drivers’ Championship where he’s eighth, but it has cost Red Bull in the teams’ challenge as they’ve now fallen to third.

But while that’s heaped pressure on Perez’s shoulders, the Mexican driver seems confident he will continue with Red Bull next season as he highlighted a big “six months” ahead for the team.

“I think after Monza we understood a lot of our issues,” he told Sky F1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. “The thing that I’ve been reporting for the last year and a half – a lack of entry stability, which the team couldn’t spot where it was.

“But then after Monza everything became a little bit more clear. We definitely made some good progress from Baku, the car was feeling a lot better. And Singapore was a struggle.

“I think we understand where the issue is. We can see it on the data now.

“So I think the next six months or so will be very important for us to make sure we are able to come on top of all those issues because the car has become very, very picky.”

Sergio Perez’s deficit to Max Verstappen highlighted in team-mate stats

?F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

?F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

That very picky RB20 has led to fluctuations in performance with Perez on song in Baku where a late-race clash cost him a potential podium before once again struggling in Singapore where he was only P10.

In contrast, Verstappen had issues in Baku and would’ve finished P7 were it not for Perez and Carlos Sainz’s crash before he put his RB20 on the podium in Singapore.

“I think it’s just that you come to the track, and we are exploring so many ways. You can hit the sweet spot at one event and then everything looks really competitive,” Perez explained the fluctuations.

“It was like with Max in Baku, Max quite far, and it’s because if you are a little bit off the sweet spot, it can be a quite large disadvantage. So what’s the target.”

Perez may be confident of spending a fifth season with Red Bull but after his P17 in Mexico, Christian Horner wasn’t.

Speaking to the media including PlanetF1.com, the Red Bull team boss said: “He knows Formula 1 is a results-based business and, inevitably, when you’re not delivering then the spotlight is firmly on.

“When anyone is underperforming, of course, there is always going to be scrutiny on that. As a team, we need to have both cars scoring points. That’s the nature of F1.”

“There comes a point in time when difficult decisions have to be made,” he added. “We’re now third in the Constructors’ Championship. Our determination is to try and try and get back into a winning position, but it’s going to be a tall order over these next four races.”

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