Helmut Marko leaks Sergio Perez's huge contract request after rejecting proposal
Sergio Perez is fighting to earn a new contract with Red Bull, but the Mexican is not the only party interested in the seat.
Helmut Marko has revealed that Sergio Perez is chasing a three-year contract extension with Red Bull. However, the Mexican is unlikely to have his wishes granted after an initial proposal was rejected by the reigning world champions.
Perez is out of contract at the end of the season and with Carlos Sainz and Yuki Tsunoda both making compelling cases for Red Bull to offer them a drive, the 34-year-old will need to continue his impressive vein of form if he is to secure a third contract with the Milton Keynes-based team.
However, with four podiums in his first five races in 2024, the Mexican is within a race win of team-mate Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship standings, making him the current frontrunner in the race for the seat alongside the Dutchman for 2025. That said, the two parties remain some way apart in their contract discussions.
Speaking to Motorsport.NL about Checo’s prospects, Marko explained: “We are not yet in a position to finalise everything. But it has nothing to do with regulations, he knows he has to perform. First, he wanted a three-year contract, but we will find a solution."
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A three-year extension will keep the Mexican at Red Bull until the end of the 2024 campaign. But with exciting talents such as Liam Lawson, Pepe Marti and Isack Hadjar waiting for chances to impress and Yuki Tsunoda pushing for a better drive than his VCARB seat offers, there is little incentive for Marko and Christian Horner to tie Perez down long-term.
Horner provided an update on the decision-making process in China last weekend. He said: "We're in a situation where we're very happy with our two drivers but don't need to make a decision until much later in the year. Max is on a long-term contract, and Checo is out of contract, but driving exceptionally well so far this season.
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"Sergio of course would like to make an announcement tomorrow undoubtedly, but we as a team aren't in a particular rush. We're in a fortunate position where many drivers would obviously like to drive for the team, but we're happy with the pairing that we have.
"We just want to make sure that the level of consistency that Checo started the season is maintained and in due course, we will evaluate those options. But as I say, at this point in time, we're very happy with the line-up that we have, so there is no imminent rush to announce the full driver line-up for 2025."