Red Bull Racing announced on Tuesday an extension of Sergio Perez’s contract by two more years.
It means the Mexican driver will be with the team through 2026, the year Formula 1 enters a new era of sustainable fuel, and power units with a much greater focus on electrification. It’s also the year Audi will enter the sport as a constructor and power unit supplier.
Perez’s teammate at Red Bull, Max Verstappen, has a contract that runs through 2028, though the triple world champion has an option to end the contract early should he choose to switch teams.
In contrast to Verstappen’s continuing dominance in F1, Perez continues to deliver a mixed performance. He’s failed to win a race this season and continues to suffer from frequent troubles during qualifying, including in the most recent race in Monaco where he failed to pass the first qualifying period.
Perez has been with Red Bull since the 2021 season, and finished second in the Drivers’ Championship in 2023, which is his best result thus far. Should Red Bull ever decide to drop him, they have a number of options in Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo from feeder team RB. Liam Lawson, who filled in for an injured Ricciardo for a few races at RB last season, is also a potential. He’s currently a reserve driver at Red Bull.
Rival team Alpine is still on the search for a driver to replace Esteban Ocon who leaves the squad at the end of 2024. One possibility is current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. Ferrari has decided to replace him with current Mercedes-Benz AMG driver Lewis Hamilton in 2025.
Mercedes has ruled out Sainz taking over Hamilton’s seat. If he doesn’t return to Alpine, where he drove briefly while the team was still branded Renault, he may end up next season at Sauber which becomes Audi in 2026, or potentially Williams.
