Perez's Future Up In Smoke As Red Bull Unsure Whether Driver Will Finish F1 Season Or Not!

It was anor disappointing performance from number 2 driver of Red Bull as he disappointed over 100000 fans in his home race in Mexico. Sergio Perez has constantly been saying that Mexican Grand Prix is his favorite event of year in F1 calendar. Sergio Perez also knows that his future in Red Bull and Formula One is in jeopardy due to his string of constant b performances and has led to Red Bull losing ir grip on Constructors Championship. 

Sergio Perez's Future In Red Bull Up In Smoke 

Sergio Perez climbed into his car for Mexico City Grand Prix as nearly 155,000 fans at his home race shouted “Checo! Checo! Checo!" in oration of wildly popular Formula 1 driver.

It was a critical race for slumping Perez — he said repeatedly all weekend it is his favorite event of year — and he knows his job is in danger because of his lack of performance.

Alas, Perez could not deliver for his hopeful fans or for Red Bull Racing. After a 17th-place finish Sunday, team principal Christian Horner would not guarantee Perez will finish season.

Horner h been emphatic two days earlier that contract extension Perez signed earlier this year was valid for 2025. But he has performance clauses in his existing contract, and when Associated Press asked Horner directly if Perez would finish this season, Horner refused to endorse driver for final four races.

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“re comes a point in time that difficult decisions have to be me,” Horner said. “We’re now third in constructors championship.”

Horner did say Perez would be in car next weekend in Brazil.

Horner mitted Mexican “h a horrible weekend” that started when he was eliminated in first round of Saturday qualifying, relegating him to an 18th-place starting position. Perez was n outside his box at start and received a five-second penalty. 

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He later got into a wheel-to-wheel battle with Liam Lawson of Red Bull sister team RB, and contact caused damage that me Perez's car uncompetitive. 

Ferrari Overtake Red Bull In Constructors Championship 

A win by Carlos Sainz moved Ferrari ahe of Red Bull for second in lucrative constructor standings and two-time reigning champions of prize that pays an estimated $150 million is now a longshot to win it for third consecutive year.

Red Bull's slip in that category is largely because of Perez's failures. He's eighth in standings, winless on year, and crashed out of three races.

“He knows Formula 1 is a results-based business, and you know, inevitably, when you’re not delivering, n spotlight is firmly on,” Horner said. “When anyone is underperforming, re is always going to be scrutiny on that. You know, as a team, we need to have both (drivers) scoring points.”

Max Verstappen has scored 362 points this season; Perez has scored just 150.

“We’re working with him as hard as we can to try and support him," Horner said. "We’ve done everything that we can to support Checo, and we’ll continue to do so in Brazil next weekend. But re comes a point in time that you can only do so much.”

Perez, although disappointed with his weekend, didn't sound like a driver worried about his job.

“This has been a complicated weekend," he said. "I always say it’s my dream to win grand prix in Mexico and I’ll try again next year. After all of support from all of se fans, it’s incredible. y have given me so much, it’s all worth it for m. We’ll try again for m next year stronger.”

His future — or lack of one in F1 — could be a problem for Mexico City race, which hes into final year of its current contract seeking an extension. race this weekend drew a record 404,958 spectators and was sold out for ninth consecutive year.

But many of fans who attend come to see Perez, and attendance could slip if he or anor Mexican driver isn't on F1 grid. Event president Alejandro Soberón said tickets for this weekend went on sale two weeks after Perez crashed out of last year's race seconds after it started and still sold out in two hours.

Tickets for 2025 will again go on sale in two weeks, and it is unclear if Perez's status for next year will be determined even though Horner h been amant Friday he was under contract for 2025.

Soberon believes race will have high demand.

“re’s very few races who have a local driver. Everybody of course would love to have a local driver, but first year we did race here 50% of fans were in a red T-shirt, so Ferrari has a wonderful following here," he said. "We have no more capacity. We could have drawn 600,000 if we h unlimited capacity, we could have anor 200,000 here, but we cannot put m.

“That’s why it sold out so fast in one year in vance. Probably without Checo maybe a drop of 20%, 25%, naturally, (but) still would be a sellout.”

Soberón also said Mexico City Grand Prix is so unique — it embraces Mexican culture and incorporates it in pdock and throughout venue — and is a destination race for F1 fans outside of country. He noted that event is a boon for local economy, with everything from hotels, restaurants and transportation services fully booked all week.

“ Mexican crowd, fandom, is very strong for F1 in general. Obviously, Checo is a great enhancement for this,” he said. "But Mexico has been very close to heart of F1. We have a much better show on track today to what we h five years ago. I think competition and quality of spectacle at track is going to be enough to sustain interest of crowd, so we as a promoter of race, we’re very excited trying to figure out a way to extend our (F1) contract regardless of Checo.

“We’re fairly optimistic that we’re going to have a race for many, many years." 

(With AP Inputs)