Christian Horner hints Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez not the only F1 drivers on Red Bull’s radar for 2025 seat alongside Max Verstappen

Red Bull principal Christian Horner recently dropped a hint about Max Verstappen's potential teammate after Sergio Perez's contract comes to an end in 2025. He suggested that the Mexican driver and Daniel Ricciardo are not the only two frontrunners to be their second driver.

Max Verstappen is locked-in with Red Bull till the 2028 season. But that isn't the case for his teammate, Sergio Perez, whose contract will expire at the end of the 2024 season.

The seat might be vacant for someone other than Perez, as Horner hinted to Sky Sports. Horner said there are other people interested in the seat apart from Perez and Daniel Ricciardo. The latter recently made his return to the grid as a permanent driver with AlphaTauri.

"It's just the position that we're in it's great to have a lot of interest. And it's not just from those drivers [Perez and Ricciardo] - it's from drivers outside our spectrum as well regarding 2025," Horner said.

Sergio Perez's current performance has been a little questionable in comparison to his teammate Max Verstappen. Although Perez is in second place in the standings, he has allegedly underperformed in the past few races, especially the qualifying sessions. This could impact his seat with the team in the future.

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Sergio Perez hoping to battle Max Verstappen in the second half of 2023

Sergio Perez has won two races out of the first 12 in the 2023 season of Formula 1, and the rest have been dominated by his teammate. This has given the latter a very comfortable lead in the world championship, and the best Perez could finish is second.

However, Perez has better hopes for the second half of the season. As reported by NextGen, he is looking for much better performances than he has had until now.

"Victories! I am not here to finish 2nd," Perez said. "I'd rather be at home doing something else if that's all I was aiming for. I am here because I know I can do it — and I've done it before."

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen is continuously breaking records with his skilled driving. He is very close to equalling the most consecutive races won by a driver, which was set by Sebastian Vettel back in the day with Red Bull. The record stands at nine races and the Dutchman has already won eight.