Christian Horner has told Sergio Perez his seat at Red Bull is his “to lose” as he fights for his future with the team during the 2024 F1 season.
Perez came under heavy pressure during the 2023 campaign which saw an early challenge to team-mate Max Verstappen disintegrate after the Dutch driver delivered a confidence-crushing drive in the Miami Grand Prix.
After taking two victories apiece in the first four races, Perez was poised to take up leadership of the drivers’ standings for the first time in his career when he started on pole in Miami, whilst Verstappen was ninth on the grid.
Verstappen, though, went on to beat Perez by just over five seconds, following which the former cruised to a third world title, whilst the latter floundered, scoring just five podiums in the remaining 17 races.
At one stage, it even appeared as if Perez would miss out on finishing second in the drivers’ championship, but he recovered enough to give Red Bull its first one-two finish in the team’s history.
With Perez out of contract at the end of this year, the feeling is a repeat of his 2023 season will result in him being ousted.
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Facing a driver-decision dilemma for the first time in four years since Perez was paired with Verstappen at the start of the 2021 season, team principal Horner is aware he has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal as to who will be paired with the 26-year-old in 2025.
Speaking to Speedcafe, Horner said: “We’re in a luxury position where there’s an awful lot of people that want to be sat in that car. We just have to weigh up what is best for the team.
“It’s Checo’s seat to lose. He’s the incumbent of that seat, and a lot will depend on how next season goes for him.
“But we’re not short of talent within the group, and obviously outside of the group, there’s been significant interest as well.”
Despite the dip in Perez’s performance last year, and the speculation that arose as to whether he would see out the final season of his contract, Horner has insisted his position was never considered.
“We really galvanised behind him and really supported him,” said Horner.
“Obviously, he had a difficult spell, but as a team, we helped him through that, he came out the other side, finishing second in the drivers’ championship. It was his best-ever result.”
There was additional conjecture that Perez’s array of sponsors that support him aided his cause as Red Bull would have lost considerable revenue if the plug had been pulled early on the Mexican.
Horner maintains, however, that “whatever sponsors we have are totally independent of any driver.”
He added: “Checo is in the car based on merit because we believe he is the best driver to be alongside Max. It has nothing to do with any of our partners.”
Perez goes into the season fully aware there are a number of drivers itching to take his seat, not least current AlphaTauri duo Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda.
Ricciardo has made no secret of the fact he wants to return to Red Bull after being given a second chance in F1 following his axing from McLaren at the end of 2022.
After returning to Red Bull in a reserve/commercial capacity at the start of last season, the Australian was handed a drive at AlphaTauri after Nyck de Vries was sacked just 10 races into his rookie campaign.
Ricciardo performed admirably, and despite missing five races after breaking a bone in his left hand in a crash in practice for the Dutch GP, his experience and character galvanised the team on and off track.
Tsunoda, meanwhile, enters his fourth season with AlphaTauri, and despite being credited for possessing considerable speed, his temperament remains questionable, with this year seen as his last to force his way into the picture with Red Bull.
Assessing the two drivers, Horner said: “Both are in a system where we can see very closely what they are doing.
“It’s down to them to demonstrate to us that they should be under consideration.”
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