Sergio Perez’s improved form could be due to next season’s contract is at stake, feels Red Bull’s Helmut Marko

Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko has claimed that Sergio Perez's upturn in form is linked to getting a contract for the 2025 season.

The Mexican driver had an excellent qualifying session at the Suzuka International Circuit on Saturday as he finished P2 behind his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen and missed out on pole position by a mere 0.66s.

Speaking with Sky Germany, Helmut Marko pointed out that Sergio Perez's improved performances at the start of the 2024 season might play a role in getting the contract for next year. He said:

“Last year [in Japan] in particular was Sergio's worst race. Everything went wrong then, so I think it's particularly satisfying for him. You can see he can do it.

"But perhaps it also plays a role that next year's contracts are at stake - this year much earlier than usual. That also seems to be very motivating.”

In his post-quali press conference, the Red Bull driver admitted that he has been 'much happier' with the RB20 as they stopped 'inventing', adding:

"Like Carlos would say, we stopped inventing. We were playing around with the car far too much and just going through it and I think now we have a much better base. We are a lot happier, and the weekends just progress."

Sergio Perez concerned about race pace deficit

Sergio Perez has stated that he is concerned about the race pace heading into the main race on Sunday.

In his press conference, the Mexican driver pointed out that they needed to make changes to get a better result:

"Now, let's see what we are able to do tomorrow. I don't think we are looking great at the moment in our long-run pace, but we've made some changes and hopefully, that will translate into a better race pace."

Red Bull looked a bit behind the likes of Ferrari and McLaren in terms of the race pace during the FP3 session but they will have a better idea about the situation during the first stint of the race.

It would be fascinating to see if Sergio Perez can challenge Max Verstappen for the race win on Sunday as he has looked closer than ever before this weekend. He and the three-time world champion Max Verstappen would hope to get maximum points from Suzuka as they are just four points ahead of Ferrari on 97 points in the Constructor's Championship.