Helmut Marko & Co. Denied Sergio Perez’s 3-Year Contract as He Reveals More Details on Red Bull’s 2nd Drivers’ Future

Remember when Daniel Ricciardo was promoted to the AlphaTauri at Nyck De Vries? Many still believe it was to see whether the Australian still had the potential for a possible Red Bull seat, as Sergio Perez was underperforming by a mile. Guess what? Ricciardo hasn’t been anywhere near what Yuki Tsunoda is doing, and it seems like Checo has stepped up his game. So mostly Sergio Perez will keep the seat if the form continues. But Helmut Marko has now come out to suggest that Red Bull denied Sergio Perez’s 3-year contract request. But why? And what does the future hold for the Mexicans?

The world of F1 is as cutthroat as it gets in competitive sports. Only the best 20 drivers make it. Red Bulls are notorious for cutting off drivers who don’t perform or demoting the ones who don’t live up to the expectations of the senior team. Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Daniil Kvyat, and Nyck De Vries are all recent examples of the same. After Sergio Perez’s poor performance last season, many expected the Milton Keynes-based team to cut off the Mexican. However, he was still under contract for another year, and Red Bull went ahead with him. 

Checo has been one of the pleasant surprises this season, doing exactly what Red Bull wants him to do. Finishing behind Max Verstappen and grabbing as many points for the team as he can. In 5 races, Perez has scored 4 podiums, as the race in Australia was compromised by floor damage. It seems like the Mexican is on track for another Red Bull contract and has already asked his team for a 3-year extension. However, Helmut Marko shuns light on the same. 

Speaking with nl.Motorsport.com, Helmut Marko, while talking about Sergio Perez’s Red Bull extension, said, “We are not yet in a position to complete everything. But it has nothing to do with regulations. He knows he needs to perform. Initially, Pérez deployed even higher. First, he wanted a three-year contract. But we’ll find a solution.”

Checo would like his future to be confirmed as soon as possible, but Red Bull wants to wait it out a little bit. It seems like the Mexican will accept a 2-year contract if presented. Even Christian Horner advised that Checo needs to keep up his current form if he wants the extension. But the Red Bull TP is in no rush. 

Christian Horner on Sergio Perez’s Red Bull extension: “A few more races”

After the Chinese GP, Christian Horner explained how the team is happy with both its drivers and that it’ll be much later in the season when they decide on the contracts. He also explained how Checo would like his future to be secure as early as possible; however, the team isn’t in a hurry to do the same. He then gave a rough estimate of when the actual contract talks would start with Perez.

Christian Horner said, “The whole driver market seems to be very early this year. Everybody seems to be rushing around and we’re only four races into the year. We are not in a huge rush and obviously, there’s a significant amount of interest in our cars, as you would expect. Checo has the priority and it’s going to be a few more races yet before we start to think about next year.”

What do you think? Is signing Sergio Perez a good decision by Red Bull, or should they look for other options?