Sergio Perez got into his car for the Mexico City Grand Prix as nearly 155,000 fans at his home race cheered, shouting “Checo! Checo! Checo!” for the beloved Formula 1 driver.
This race was crucial for Perez, who said multiple times during the weekend that it is his favorite event of the year. However, he knows his job is at risk because of his poor performance.
Unfortunately, Perez was unable to perform for his excited fans or for Red Bull Racing. After finishing in 17th place on Sunday, team principal Christian Horner did not confirm that Perez would finish the season.
Horner had previously stated that the contract extension Perez signed earlier this year was valid through 2025. However, there are performance clauses in his current contract, and when The Associated Press asked Horner directly if Perez would finish this season, he did not support the driver for the final four races.
“There comes a point in time that difficult decisions have to be made,” Horner said. “We’re now third in the constructors championship.” Horner did say that Perez would be driving in the car next weekend in Brazil.
Horner acknowledged that the Mexican driver “had a horrible weekend,” starting when he was knocked out in the first round of Saturday qualifying, which left him in 18th place at the start. Perez also had a five-second penalty after he was outside his box at the beginning of the race.
Later, he got into a close fight with Liam Lawson from the Red Bull sister team, which resulted in contact that damaged Perez’s car and made it uncompetitive.
A win by Carlos Sainz allowed Ferrari to move ahead of Red Bull for second place in the valuable constructors standings, and the two-time reigning champions now have a tough chance to win it for a third year in a row.
Red Bull’s drop in performance is mainly due to Perez’s struggles. He is currently eighth in the standings, has not won any races this year, and has crashed out in three of them.
“He knows Formula 1 is a results-based business, and when you’re not delivering, the focus is on you,” Horner said. “When anyone is underperforming, there will always be scrutiny. As a team, we need both drivers to be scoring points.”
Max Verstappen has earned 362 points this season, while Perez has only managed 150.
“We’re working as hard as we can to support him,” Horner said. “We’ve done everything possible to help Checo, and we’ll keep doing so in Brazil next weekend. But there comes a time when you can only do so much.”
Despite feeling let down by his performance, Perez didn’t sound like a driver who is anxious about his job.
“This has been a complicated weekend,” he said. “I always say it’s my dream to win the grand prix in Mexico, and I’ll try again next year. The support from all these fans is incredible. They have given me so much, and it’s all worth it for them. We’ll come back stronger for them next year.”
His future in F1 could be a concern for the Mexico City race, which is entering the last year of its current contract and looking for an extension. This weekend’s event attracted a record 404,958 spectators and was sold out for the ninth year in a row.
However, many fans attend to see Perez, and attendance might drop if he or another Mexican driver is not part of the F1 lineup. Event president Alejandro Soberón mentioned that tickets for this weekend went on sale just two weeks after Perez crashed out of last year’s race just seconds after it began, yet they still sold out in two hours.
Tickets for 2025 will be available again in two weeks, but it’s uncertain if Perez’s situation for next year will be decided, even though Horner insisted on Friday that he is under contract for 2025. Soberón believes there will be a strong demand for the race.
“There are very few races with a local driver. Everyone would love to have a local driver, but in the first year we held the race here, 50% of the fans wore red T-shirts, so Ferrari has a big following here,” he said.
“We can’t accommodate more people. We could have drawn 600,000 if we had unlimited space; we could have fit another 200,000, but we can’t.”
“That’s why it sold out so quickly, a year in advance. Probably without Checo, there would be a drop of 20% to 25%, but it would still sell out.”
Soberón also mentioned that the Mexico City Grand Prix is special because it reflects Mexican culture and incorporates it throughout the venue, making it a popular destination for F1 fans from other countries.
He pointed out that the event greatly benefits the local economy, with hotels, restaurants, and transportation services fully booked for the entire week.
“The Mexican crowd is very passionate about F1 in general. Checo certainly adds to that,” he said. “But Mexico has always been important to F1. The racing today is much better than it was five years ago. I believe the competition and quality of the event will keep fans interested, so as race promoters, we’re eager to find a way to extend our F1 contract, regardless of Checo.
“We’re quite optimistic that we’ll have a race here for many years to come.”
