Sergio Perez sets deadline over Red Bull F1 future decision

Sergio Perez has revealed when he expects to find out about his future in F1 with Red Bull.

The Mexican is out of contract at the end of the year and intense speculation has swirled around whether he will keep hold of his seat for much of the past year.

After a difficult 2023 season, Perez’s form has improved at the start of the new campaign and he appears to be confident about his chances of staying.

Asked if he feels any extra pressure about his future, Perez told Sky: “No. I am pretty relaxed about it.

“It’s my 14th season in F1 and whatever comes next… I’m really pleased with what I’ve done in the sport so far.

“I believe it will be a matter of time. The driver market is moving.

“The next few weeks, there will be a lot of movement. I expect, within a month, to really know what I am doing next year.”

Daniel Ricciardo had been viewed as the most likely candidate to replace Perez after being drafted back into Red Bull’s sister team, but the Australian is enduring a tough start to the season amid rumours he could lose his seat at RB.

Perez strengthened his own bid to stay where he is by taking his third second place of 2024 to complete Red Bull’s third 1-2 finish in four races behind teammate Max Verstappen.

“It was a good weekend overall. We came close to pole,” said Perez, who missed out on beating Verstappen to pole by just 0.066s.

“When you start behind in the dirty air, you take off a little bit more. That wasn’t ideal.

“Just the first stint on mediums, the balance was off. We managed to sort it out for the second stint.

“But we were in traffic, coming through traffic, damaging tyres.

“Once we had a difference of four or five seconds to Max, it was important just to bring it home safely from the cars behind.

“We have a much better base-line. At tracks like this, you need confidence for the high speeds.

“Naturally, once momentum is with us, we should be able to get better.”