Sergio Perez Faces Mid-Season Axing Threat as Potential Performance Clause in New Red Bull Contract Emerges

Red Bull surprisingly renewed Sergio Perez‘s contract during turbulent times for him. The Mexican racer has only scored 4 points in the last three races, with a P8, followed by two DNFs. A 2-year contract renewal at such a junction, when Red Bull had Carlos Sainz as a prospect, upset many. Perez’s Canadian GP disaster has only aggravated the surrounding criticism, with a mid-season termination appearing as a possibility.

Sergio Perez finished the 2023 season with 285 points, 290 less than teammate Max Verstappen‘s 575. De Telegraaf reported that a performance clause in the Mexican’s contract allowed Red Bull to downgrade his salary if the gap widened to over 125 points. If true, that would’ve impacted the 34-year-old’s psyche significantly. But what former Le Mans driver Jeroen Bleekemolen reveals is far worse.

“I would never have extended Pérez’s contract,” Bleekemolen told Formule1.nl, putting himself in Christian Horner’s place. “There’s definitely a clause in there about his performance and that he has to be at a certain percentage of Max,” he added, giving concreteness to the 2023 reports while claiming, “So I think they can still go either way. If he keeps it up like this, he might not even make it to the end of the year.”

Bleekemolen also emphasized how McLaren and Ferrari’s upgraded performance is worsening Perez’s plight. “At the beginning of this season, the Red Bull was better than the rest,” the Dutch racer said, continuing, “If he was 3 or 4 tenths short of Max, he could still finish second. Now it’s just very close together and Red Bull may not even be the best car anymore. If he’s a few tenths short now, then it suddenly becomes very difficult. But the gap to Max is already often going towards a second and that’s really too much.”

The RB20’s relatively inefficient performance on the Monaco and Canada tracks can still be used to justify Perez’s drop in performance. However, the unabashed Helmut Marko sees his failures for what they are.

Helmut Marko highlights Sergio Perez’s “psychological” issue

After joining Red Bull in 2021, Sergio Perez was the perfect ‘Number 2’ for Max Verstappen. But the dream lasted for only two years before the pressure of not matching the 3-time champion got to him. Eventually, a change in mentality to focus on his own performance instead of comparisons with Verstappen helped him in the early 2024 revival, Helmut Marko revealed.

But after Perez’s Canadian GP debacle, the Red Bull taskmaster isn’t happy. “It’s not the car. You can see that with Max. I think it’s more psychological,” Marko said on ServusTV, via Motorsport while noting, “It was close, and when the conditions change, he finds it much more difficult. But the fact that it’s already the third time (not in Q3) is painful.”

The Spanish GP up next has a more traditional circuit, suited to the RB20. Perez’s performance there would be an indicator of his worthiness for the Red Bull seat. If the struggles continue there, Christian Horner & Co. might start questioning his contract extension. What’s your take on Perez’s issues? Let us know in the comments below.