D-day for Perez but 2025 F1 announcement may have to wait

Red Bull says it will agree with Sergio Perez “the right and appropriate way forward” during discussions set for today to decide his Formula 1 future.

But while a meeting that will involve the team’s shareholders is expected to define the line-up of both of Red Bull’s F1 squads for 2025, it is thought likely that an announcement about its final decision may not come for a few days.

And that could be because the squad wants to wait until after Tuesday’s Abu Dhabi test, which involves Yuki Tsunoda’s first run in a Red Bull car, before committing to the line-up of its squads.

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko told Motorsport.com: “All the facts will be discussed, and I guess a decision will be made. When it will be announced? I don’t think it will be Monday. 

“And of course we will wait for the result [of the test] before we make an announcement of the decision.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner explained that it was important the outfit got the season finished before it could evaluate things properly with Perez to work out what was in both their own best interests.

“Obviously those discussions will happen between Checo and the team,” he said. “Now we have got the season out of the way, we’ll sit down with him and reflect on the season – and obviously where it’s gone wrong – and collectively work out what is the right and the appropriate way forward. 

“He’s done an awful lot for this team. So we’ll sit down and reflect on this season and how we move forward.”

Perez’s lack of points-scoring performances this year, in a season when Max Verstappen captured the drivers’ championship, contributed to Red Bull finishing third in the constructors’ title chase.

Verstappen won the title with 437 points, while Perez only managed 152 and finished eighth in the standings. Red Bull’s total in the constructors’ championship was 589, with Ferrari taking 652 and McLaren 666.

The reality of the points deficit was something that Horner said was hard to accept, and left it under no illusions that it needed to lift its driver line-up if it was to have any hope of doing better in 2025.

“I think you can see the importance of having two drivers scoring on a regular basis in the constructors’ championship,” he said. “It is crucial.

“Ferrari will be strong with their line-up next year. McLaren have a strong line-up. Mercedes will have an inexperienced driver in one of their seats.

“So for our team, it’s very important that both of our drivers are delivering, and there’s not a significant gap.”

Asked if there was any scenario he could foresee where Perez would remain on board, Horner said: “He’s still our driver. So it would be wrong for me to speculate on what next year may look like, until he and I have sat down and discussed this year, and we reflect on it as a team.”

Photos from Abu Dhabi GP Race