Sergio Perez has revealed he’ll know whether Red Bull will extend his contract or not ‘by the end of the month’. One of the most coveted seats in Formula 1 is up for grabs as Perez’s Red Bull deal is up at the end of the season and there are plenty of drivers hoping to get behind the wheel for the reigning champions. The Mexican has driven for the team since 2021, winning five races in that time, and while Red Bull have never intended for him to challenge star driver Max Verstappen , the gap in pace between the pair has been astronomical. As such, there are rumours aplenty that Perez will be replaced come 2025, with Daniel Ricciardo the early frontrunner for the seat. The former Red Bull star is currently driving for their junior team RB after a turbulent few seasons but his chances of returning to the front of the grid are growing slimmer after a poor start to the year. He crashed out at the start of Sunday’s Japanese
Grand Prix , while teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished in the points at his home race, with the 23-year-old driving himself into contention for the seat. Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson is also in the running while they could look outside their own talent pool, with Carlos Sainz, who is leaving
Ferrari to make way for Sir Lewis Hamilton, linked with the team after an impressive start to the year . But following the race in Japan, Perez himself offered an exciting update on the race for his F1 seat, revealing that a decision on his future will be made before the end of April. After finishing second in Suzuka behind Verstappen, Perez was asked whether he feels extra pressure knowing he’s fighting for his future at Red Bull. He replied: ‘No, I’m pretty relaxed about it. Really pleased with what I’ve done in the sport so far and I believe it will be a matter of time. ‘Obviously the driver market is moving and in the next few weeks there is going to be a lot of movement for sure, so I expect within a month to really know what I’m doing next year.’ Red Bull boss Christian Horner added that he was pleased with his driver’s performances, suggesting that he was leaning toward renewing his contract. ‘It’s his [Perez’s] seat to lose, he’s doing a great
Job. He qualified within a tenth of a second yesterday, his best qualifying performance here by far,’ the team principal said. It's shameful how long it's taken for Shōgun acting legend to get recognition Would you ever drink tomato liqueur? We put our tastebuds on the line Three things we learnt after Max Verstappen cruises to
Japan GP win
Lewis Hamilton warns Mercedes not to 'f*** up' his Japanese Grand Prix ‘I think that you can see his confidence growing and I thought his performance in the race again was very strong today. His third second-place finish of the year and he’s doing exactly what was needed of him.’ Before the end of the month there is one more race where Perez can prove his worth, with F1 returning to
China for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic in two weeks’ time. For more stories like this, check our sport page . Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook ,
Twitter and
Instagram . MORE : Lewis Hamilton hits out at Mercedes strategy after ‘challenging’ Japanese Grand Prix MORE : Tomato liqueur? We taste test the latest drinks trend so you don’t have to MORE : Lewis Hamilton warns Mercedes not to ‘f*** up’ his Japanese Grand Prix after promising practice