“Stay Tuned”, Red Bull mysteriously said yesterday, teasing an important announcement. With Alpine announcing Esteban Ocon’s exit only a few hours after that, the rumor mill went wild. Fans connected the dots, theorizing that Christian Horner & Co could replace Sergio Perez with the Frenchman. But such wild theories are about to be put to rest.

Sergio Perez is in his 4th year driving for the Milton Keynes outfit. The Guadalajara-born racer is in his last year of the current 2-year contract. Though he helped Red Bull win the constructors’ championships 2 years in a row, his inconsistency brought problems. As a result, team advisor Helmut Marko was dead set on giving him nothing more than a 1-year contract. “If he [Perez] has a secure contract for two years, there is a risk that he will slack off,” the 81-year-old said in April.

That is exactly what Christian Horner eventually offered to the 34-year-old. But Perez wouldn’t budge as he demanded a 2-year deal, at least. This lengthened the negotiations and delayed the finalization of the 2025 contract. But the team has finally found a middle ground. As per BILD, the reigning world champions have worked out a 1+1 year deal. The second year, that is 2026, would be an option for Red Bull. This means that Daniel Ricciardo ‘fairytale’ dream gets postponed and so does Yuki Tsunoda’s.

In essence, for Red Bull, this is still as good as a 1-year deal. The ball lies in their court and the odds will be against Perez unless he comes runner-up to Max Verstappen. But that doesn’t look to be the case with Ferrari and McLaren already dethroning him.

Sergio Perez feels “lonely” in F1 amid struggling times at Red Bull

2023 started wonderfully for Sergio Perez with 2 wins in 4 races only to nosedive into a downward spiral. The first signs of a sad repeat of that have already surfaced with the Mexican driver only scoring 4 points in Imola and none in Monaco. During such testing times, he has revealed how F1 feels like a “lonely” place despite having hundreds of people on a team.

“With the drivers…although we are big stars, yes, we get that. But the amount of work that is put behind the scenes, it’s a sport that you’re basically sitting on your own and it’s down to you to perform,” Perez told Man of Many. “You do well, it’s great, a team effort, but also it’s a very lonely place. Because compared to other sports where it’s more of a team, here, this one, is very individual driven.”

Racing in the same car as Max Verstappen could also have amplified any deep-seated negative emotions that Perez might have had. Nonetheless, he has proven himself to get another chance to continue driving the best car on the grid. Maybe we could see a re-energized version of Perez when F1 returns to Canada this weekend.