“Everything is clear” - Perez confident of Red Bull future even if he loses P2

Perez is just 20 points ahead of the Mercedes driver with three rounds remaining.

The Mexican endured a tough weekend last time out as he crashed out of his home event on the opening lap.

It continued a poor run of form for Perez, who has finished on the podium just once since the summer break.

Despite his stuttering F1 form, Perez is sure his future lies with Red Bull despite the raft of speculation in recent months.

“If that’s what you want to say and write,” Perez responded to Ted Kravitz when asked if finishing second would secure his Red Bull future. 

“Apparently it is the rumour. For me, I have a contract, everything is clear regardless of where I end up in the season. But, rumours are rumours.”

Even though Perez has struggled to pick up good results, he’s been buoyed by the progress he’s made.

“Yes, I have the pace to do that [finish second],” he added. “I have just been extremely unlucky the last few weekends. 

“It’s time to get a clean weekend and show what I can do because the pace in the last few weekends has been better than the results we’ve been getting.

“I really feel like we’ve made a lot of progress so we should be back in form this weekend.”