Helmut Marko has confirmed that Red Bull will decide who will be Max Verstappen’s F1 2025 team-mate at the end of this season, as there are increasing rumors about Sergio Perez’s future.
He mentioned that the two-year contract Perez signed earlier this year won’t prevent Red Bull from making a change for next season, emphasizing that F1 is a “meritocracy.”
Sergio Perez’s position at Red Bull is under serious threat due to a poor performance streak, with the 34-year-old driver not finishing on the podium since the Chinese Grand Prix in April.
The Mexican driver seemed to secure his place by signing a new two-year contract in June, which would keep him at Red Bull until the end of the F1 2026 season.
However, since his new deal is believed to have stricter performance clauses, Perez has been facing increasing pressure as the F1 summer break approached.
In July, PlanetF1.com reported that Perez nearly lost his seat after the Belgian Grand Prix. A performance clause allowed Red Bull to drop him during the summer break because he was over 100 points behind Verstappen in the Drivers’ standings.
It is understood that Red Bull’s plans to replace Sergio Perez included setting up a test between Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson at Imola. This test was meant to help decide who would take Perez’s place for the second half of the F1 2024 season. However, they decided to keep Perez for the final 10 races.
It is unclear if Red Bull has a similar way to let go of Perez at the end of this season, especially since his gap to Verstappen has now grown to 204 points.
Last month, Perez laughed off rumors that he and Red Bull had a plan to announce his retirement before his home race in Mexico this weekend, saying he will not leave the team.
With Lawson performing well in his first F1 race in over a year at the recent United States Grand Prix, after stepping in for Ricciardo for the last six races of F1 2024, it seems that Perez is under increasing pressure to improve his results to keep his spot next to Verstappen for next season.
Helmut Marko, a long-time advisor for Red Bull, has confirmed that the team will make a final decision about Perez’s future at the end of the season.
He warned that Perez’s new contract will not stop the team from making a change for F1 2025. He told the German publication F1-Insider: “Perez may have a contract, but Formula 1 is a meritocracy. If the performance is not right, even contracts are useless. At the end of the season, we will sit down together and decide who is the best team-mate for Verstappen at Red Bull.”
Marko’s comments come after he downplayed the idea that Perez’s retirement is coming soon. He told Sky Germany at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix: “It’s a rumour. He himself says there is no truth in it. Let’s see, but he has to improve his performance.”
The 81-year-old also praised Lawson’s performance in Austin, Texas, after the 22-year-old came back from a 60-place grid penalty to finish ninth. He described the New Zealander as “definitely a man for the future.”
Before Lawson raced at the United States GP, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hinted that the young driver could be a serious option to replace Perez for F1 2025. He admitted that the team “desperately need answers” and suggested that there is a “much bigger picture” behind the decision to replace Ricciardo after the Singapore GP.
Perez’s lack of contribution alongside Verstappen is likely to hurt Red Bull’s chances in the Constructors’ Championship, which they have held since 2022. The team is currently 40 points behind leaders McLaren, with five races left in the F1 2024 season.
Red Bull could drop to third place in the standings at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, with Ferrari only eight points behind after achieving their second one-two finish of the season in the United States.
