Formula 1 Emilia Romagna GP
Perez's Imola GP setback won't affect his F1 future - Red Bull
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is adamant Sergio Perez's poor Imola GP showing won't influence their 2025 Formula 1 contract talks, but stops short of saying he'll be retained.
Ben Vinel Oleg Karpov
Edited: May 22, 2024, 9:28 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Perez lost the runner-up spot in the drivers' championship to Charles Leclerc on Sunday after floundering throughout the Italian weekend, as Red Bull struggled to find the right set-up for its RB20.
Perez is yet to beat Max Verstappen in qualifying or lead him on a single race lap this season, but his performance significantly deteriorated in Imola as he failed to reach Q3 – unlike both of sister team RB's cars – for the first time this season. On Sunday, he finished only eighth after a trip through the gravel, some 55 seconds adrift of his Red Bull team-mate.
Yet, Horner is not overly worried about this setback, calling it "just a blip".
"Our simulations were saying before the race that P7 was potentially optimal [assuming] nothing happened, no safety cars or anything like that," Horner said, with the race being run uninterrupted indeed.
"He had one trip through the gravel that cost him about six seconds, but I think that was about the maximum that he could get from that grid position today."
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20, drives off the track into the gravel
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
This below-par performance comes as Perez's future at Red Bull remains unsecured for the 2025 season.
Horner admitted the timing was unfortunate for his racer but was keen to point the bigger picture out: "It is a 24-race calendar. He has had a great start to the year, his approach has been very strong and he has changed his approach a bit this year. Today’s result was dictated by yesterday’s qualifying."
With both RB drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo as well as Carlos Sainz – among others – vying for Perez's seat, Horner added that "we know exactly where we are at and what our options are. In the timing that is right for us we will make decisions about the future."
When asked how close Red Bull was to finalising the terms of a new contract with Perez and whether it was just a matter of signing, Horner made it clear that any potential deal wasn't just waiting to be signed: "Checo is always a very straightforward guy to deal with, so I wouldn’t expect that to be an issue."
Read Also:
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Maternity leave inclusion a concern in new $220 million F1 cost cap proposal
Next article Everything about Max Verstappen's sim racing career and his Le Mans ambitions
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Ben Vinel
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
Formula 1 5 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Toto Wolff reflects on Mercedes’ non-title years: ‘We weren’t complete losers’
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 d
Toto Wolff reflects on Mercedes’ non-title years: ‘We weren’t complete losers’
More from
Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez to skip F1 Mexico GP fan forum due to illness
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
14 d
Sergio Perez to skip F1 Mexico GP fan forum due to illness
Sergio Perez praises Colton Herta impact - but has no say over 2027 Cadillac F1 team-mate choice
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
14 d
Sergio Perez praises Colton Herta impact - but has no say over 2027 Cadillac F1 team-mate choice
The 10 key moments that defined Sergio Perez's F1 career
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
15 d
The 10 key moments that defined Sergio Perez's F1 career
More from
Red Bull Racing
Tsolov named Red Bull, Racing Bulls reserve driver after missing out on 2027 F1 race seat
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 d
Tsolov named Red Bull, Racing Bulls reserve driver after missing out on 2027 F1 race seat
Latest news
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
57 min
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
1 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 5 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe