Sergio Perez says he is looking for a long-term contract extension with Red Bull to provide “stability” for him as a driver.
Perez was originally signed by Red Bull at the end of the 2020 season and raced for the team last year, taking a single race victory in Azerbaijan while team mate Max Verstappen secured the world championship.Red Bull rewarded Perez with a one-year contract extension for 2022. Earlier this year they re-signed Verstappen to a new five-year deal which will keep him at the Milton Keynes-based team until the end of the 2028 season.
In light of his team mate’s major new deal, Perez says that he would like to secure similar “stability” within the team.
“When the time comes, certainly as a driver, you really need to have some stability with your team, which is also good for the team to have some continuity,” said Perez in response to a question from RaceFans in Bahrain. “So I think, going forwards, I’m looking for a bit longer stay.”
Having secured his goal of a world championship title, Verstappen says he was keen to commit long term to Red Bull due to how much he enjoys being a part of the team.
“What I always find important, of course, success is very important – that’s what we were targeting we achieved the championship last year. That was necessary, let’s put it like that.
“But I also find it important that you have a good time while you’re in Formula 1 and you actually have fun with the people you’re travelling with and I definitely have that. So why would you change that?”
Verstappen has committed to the team despite the withdrawal of engine manufacturer Honda at the end of last season, though they have decided to continue supplying their power units through Honda Performance Development. The world champion is confident in Red Bull’s plans to take over production of its power units through the Red Bull Powertrains division it is building at Milton Keynes.
“I believe in the whole project also going forward and enjoying just working with everyone in the team and I just have a really good time. So that’s why I think it was quite a straightforward decision in the end.”
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Jere (@jerejj)
12th March 2022, 7:35
Well, not really in his control since he originally joined RBR for stop-gap purposes. Time will tell.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
12th March 2022, 9:21
Although I believe Perez was signed as a stop-gap until Red Bull found someone better to replace him with, I don’t see many options for them out there. Russell, Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, and Ocon are off the table with long-term contracts, only drivers who are/might be available are Gasly, Albon, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, and Vettel. Although they have 6 drivers in F2 this season, I don’t see any of them as being really good enough for Red Bull, unless Hauger does a Piastri this season with an eye for a Red Bull promotion for 2024/2025. Only Gasly has made a case for replacing Perez from the Red Bull pool of drivers, but they seem to not regard him that highly. And if you asked someone in 2020 who was better out of Gasly or Perez, I reckon most would have said Perez. It wouldn’t surprise me if Perez did get a two-year contract extension, because there doesn’t seem to be anyone available who would represent an upgrade on him.
Jason (@jasonj)
12th March 2022, 12:24
I think there is a grab bag of options, I’d easily rate Grosjean above Perez for speed (not consistency over a race, as long as he doesn’t crash), Ol’ Kimi I’m sure would jump at a chance to be in a Red Bull, and having 2 World Champions to market your product is a great idea if you can get them, hell, It’d worth tracking down Wehrlein as he would have a huge chip on his shoulder and would likely go all out to trip up Mercedes at every chance. Van Doorne ended up in a bad McLaren, he’d grab a chance at redemption as well. I know these are has-beens, but so was Perez before they grabbed him out of the
Racing Point bargain bin.
The amount of available youngsters that would likely outperform Perez is a long list, especially since they had to grab Albon from whatever bus race he was in not long ago. Now that Red Bull has bought in ‘talent’ they haven’t cultivated, the door is wide open for all sorts of racers from other teams and categories. Scott Mclaughlin and a whole range of Indycar drivers would throw their hands in the air for a chance at F1.
Red Bull has a lot of options, they can buy a superlicence for any driver from anywhere if they want. It’s just that Perez also came with a bucket of money I think, but RB doesn’t really need that money.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
12th March 2022, 10:27
I’m just waiting to see if the new cars allow Max’s team mate to stay closer to him than previously.
Checo is a good enough driver and proved in Abu Dhabi that he is pretty much a perfect team player, but if he still can not match Max then I suppose RB will have to try shopping around.
A certain Mr D Ricciardo used to push Max quite hard as I recall ;P
Aapje (@aapje)
12th March 2022, 11:01
He should probably first prove himself with fairly consistent race results, before asking for this.
Wayne
12th March 2022, 11:03
Rb should gibe hime and extended contract. Perez did defend against Lewis enough for max to make great gains. He was a good team player even ruining his own race. I just hope the car is designed also towards his liking so he can also be competitive.
HK (@me4me)
12th March 2022, 11:53
Perez’s defense in Abu Dhabi gets mentioned regularly but lets not forget all the times that he wasn’t there to bother Hamilton and Bottas at the front last year. Perez has to show better pace this year.
baasbas
12th March 2022, 13:08
He had his moments but you tend to remember those best. There were plenty of sub par performances also. But you’d have to compare him to Gasly in his stint. And compared to that it was an improvement. But I’m curious now at a second chance for Gasly. He has matured since then, he knows what to expect now. The car was a challenge to drive, as we have learned. It totally caught him out at the time. But what about this years car? I don’t know, he might actually do really well a second time… Perez did play the team game a few times and really well also. Don’t feel Gasly would put in the same effort in that regard though.