Red Bull make Sergio Perez decision following intense exit speculation

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

With reports swirling that Sergio Perez would lose his Red Bull seat over the summer break, team principal Christian Horner has confirmed that this will not be the case.

Despite signing a new multi-year deal ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, Perez has been unable to escape a fresh alarming slump in form, with Red Bull themselves applying pressure on the Mexican with McLaren threatening to snatch away the Constructors’ Championship title.

Sergio Perez stays with Red Bull

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Crossing the line P8 at the Belgian Grand Prix – which became P7 after race winner George Russell was disqualified – Perez fell below the expectations of Horner and Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko, who met on Monday with Perez’s future a key topic on the agenda.

Speculation strengthened that Perez had just drove his last race for Red Bull at Spa, but Horner has confirmed that this is not the case, with Perez retaining the backing of the team.

Horner, in an announcement to Red Bull personnel at their Milton Keynes base, said: “Checo remains a Red Bull Racing driver, despite all the speculation of late.

“We’re looking forward to seeing him perform at circuits where he’s done well before, after the summer break.”

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Perez had been quizzed once more on his Red Bull future by media including PlanetF1.com at Spa, where he made it clear that he expected to remain a Red Bull driver after the summer break and was no longer willing to discuss this topic.

“Correct,” was the response from Perez when asked if he was confident that he would remain at Red Bull, adding in reference to his difficult race: “Yesterday I had a good qualifying, a good day. It doesn’t change anything.

“I think we have too much going on in the team — a lot of things that we have to focus on, and we cannot waste any energy with all this speculation around it.

“So this is the last time I will speak about the future. To make it clear for everyone, I will not be speaking anymore.

“I will not answer any more questions on the future.”

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