Christian Horner has confirmed Sergio Perez will remain at Red Bull for the rest of the season following crunch talks on Monday; Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 23-25, live on Sky Sports F1
Monday 29 July 2024 22:08, UK
Sergio Perez will keep his seat at Red Bull and continue as Max Verstappen's team-mate into the second part of the season, Christian Horner has told the team.
Talks took place on Monday over Perez's future after the team's motorsport adviser Helmut Marko said the Mexican driver "completely collapsed" in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Perez was under pressure to deliver a positive result in Sunday's race having scored just 21 points across the previous seven rounds.
An improved qualifying display earned him second on the grid, but Perez fell backwards in the race to finish eighth (later promoted to seventh due to George Russell's disqualification), three places behind Verstappen, who had started 11th after serving a grid penalty.
There had been speculation that Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson, or one of the drivers at their junior squad RB, Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, could replace Perez.
However, having earlier confirmed that Perez's future would be on the agenda at a meeting on Monday, Horner has since confirmed the Mexican will not be replaced.
Horner said to the Red Bull team: "Checo remains a Red Bull Racing driver despite recent speculation and we look forward to seeing him perform at tracks he has previously excelled at after the summer break."
RB's line-up of Ricciardo and Tsunoda will also remain unchanged when the season resumes.
Sky Sports News' Craig Slater...
"There has been a lot of speculation that Red Bull were to replace Sergio Perez with either the young New Zealand driver Liam Lawson or possibly Daniel Ricciardo who currently drives for the RB team.
"There has been a meeting today at Red Bull headquarters between Christian Horner and Helmut Marko who is the specialist adviser with the team.
"It was to discuss Sergio Perez's future. Marko had his say on this and given how cutting Marko was about Perez's performance in Belgium, it was felt he would be potentially lobbying for his replacement.
"But that has not happened. Horner has ultimately taken the decision that Perez will continue as Max Verstappen's partner beyond the summer break.
"It was a decision because, even though Verstappen is in a comfortable position in the driver standings, McLaren are really closing in on Red Bull in the Constructors Championship and at the end of the day, that is the one that pays the money and gets the bonuses.
"It is Perez's uneven points contribution compared to Verstappen's that has weakened their position there.
"It has been Horner's decision ultimately and he has decided that the least disruptive thing to do is sticking with Perez and he expects an improvement after the summer break."
Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 23-25, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime
