A whopping €20m price set for F1 rookie as Red Bull search Sergio Perez's replacement: Reports

As per reports, Williams F1 has demanded a whopping €20m to release Franco Colapinto and join Red Bull as a potential Sergio Perez replacement. The Mexican driver has been under fire from Red Bull despite signing a new contract with them ahead of the Monaco GP that would see him race for the Milton-Keynes outfit until the end of 2026.

The 34-year-old has largely struggled to improve his performances in the 2024 season as he languishes 252 points behind his teammate Max Verstappen in the driver's standings. Red Bull has been looking for alternatives for the six-time race-winner with Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto emerging as potential replacements.

Given his eye-catching performances in the first five races, Red Bull has showcased growing interest in the Williams junior driver to give him a drive in the 2025 season in either RB or the senior team.

As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Williams team is open to letting Colapinto go but has demanded a whopping €20m to release him from his contract. However, it is unclear whether Red Bull wants to acquire the services of the Argentine driver for the VCARB F1 team or the Austrian team.

Christain Horner was asked about his interest in Colapinto in Interlagos to which he said, via PlanetF1:

“I think it’s great to see these juniors doing a great job. We’ve got Liam Lawson obviously in the VCARB doing a really good job. Oliver Bearman should get a shoutout today because he was impressive."

“I think Franco, again, is a kid that’s doing really, really well. Of course, you’re always keeping an eye on the driver market and I think Franco definitely has got the qualities to be a potential star of the future.”

Red Bull team boss gives his take on Sergio Perez's Brazilian GP

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stated that it was a "difficult race" for Sergio Perez given he failed to finish in the points-scoring position, while his teammate Max Verstappen won the Brazilian Grand Prix by a mammoth 19 seconds.

Speaking with Motorsport.com, the Brit reflected:

"It was a difficult race for Checo. Spinning at the beginning of the race drops him down. It was an opportunity for the constructors to take a big chunk out of both Ferrari and McLaren and unfortunately, we've not been able to capitalize on that. Obviously, that's frustrating, but we'll go away and have a look at it and come back hopefully fighting hard in Vegas."

While commenting on Perez's future, Horner added:

"Everything in life is subjective. You've got to look at the facts. We're working hard with Checo. He had a chassis change this weekend. I thought he drove a good [sprint] race but [the grand prix] wasn't his day."

Sergio Perez has failed to stand on the podium, ever since the Chinese GP earlier in the season and remains P8 in the standings.