Ex-Ferrari Boss Busts Biggest Red Bull’s “Get Out of Jail Card” With Sergio Perez Contract

Sergio Perez got his contract renewed despite not finishing the race in Monaco and after being retained by the team, he had another DNF at Montreal. It looks like even after getting a seat in Red Bull, Checo is not being able to perform as expected. He fell from P2 to P5 in the last 2 races and this is not a result Red Bull is enjoying.

Ferrari is constantly getting close to Red Bull, however, with both their cars retiring at the Canadian Grand Prix, the Milton Keynes outfit still has a chance to keep their lead. While Max Verstappen is doing everything to bring in points for the team, Checo has not made it to the podium for over half the races. Now the question stands, will his 1+1 year clause become a “get-out-of-jail card” for Red Bull next year if Checo doesn’t perform?

Peter Windsor explains Red Bull’s position after retaining Sergio Perez

In the latest episode of F1 Livestream with Peter Windsor, the former Ferrari boss is asked an interesting question about Red Bull. Stating, “I hate to start the chat with a negative one, but do you think Pérez’s new contract will have to have a “get out of jail free” card if Red Bull wants to switch to one of the Academy drivers in the future?”

To this question, Windsor replied, “As I say, you know, it’s a lot of money to be saying goodbye to in terms of the package or responses that he brings indirectly through Mexican affiliates of large American companies or indeed other companies. That’s a big thing to say goodbye to. So I think if they were going to not renew his contract, they would have done so based on some of the poor performances already.”

The former team principal explained why Perez is an irreplaceable asset to the team as he said, “The reality of renewing his contract is that it’s more than just performance. And Max wants Pérez in the other car the same way Lewis wanted to keep Bottas. There’s no difference in Max’s opinion compared to Lewis’s.”

Now we all know that before George Russell joined Mercedes, the team was constantly winning championships, with Valtteri Bottas being Hamilton’s teammate. After the line changed, Mercedes took a hit as the team’s overall performance started to plummet. The 7-time world champion wanted to retain his teammates as the two had amazing synergy, like Verstappen and Perez, which could be one of the reasons Red Bull decided to keep Checo in the team.

What did Lewis Hamilton have to say about Valtteri Bottas leaving the team?

“You are greater than you know and I know there’s a bright future ahead for you,” is the message that Hamilton put out for Bottas when he was replaced by George Russell. The two drivers had been driving together ever since 2017 and in this time, Hamilton has won 4 championships. Knowing that Bottas is a huge asset, Hamilton was not ready to see his teammate leave, but ultimately, Toto Wolff made his decision.

Upon the announcement of Bottas being replaced with Russell, Lewis Hamilton put out a heartfelt post on X, sharing kind words for his teammate. Hamilton has always been the star driver in Mercedes and this has led to Bottas losing his spotlight, but despite that, the Australian was always a team player. Bottas has his hand in Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton winning the world champion title and ever since he was replaced, Mercedes has not performed well.

Similarly, many believe that if Sergio Perez leaves Red Bull, Max Verstappen will lose his teammate who helped him win his first world champion trophy. Although Verstappen has a rule to never lose against Checo, he values his teammate and is waiting for Perez to bounce back from this slump.

Looking at how things are on the F1 grid, do you think that Sergio Perez will be able to regain his P2 on the drivers’ championship?