“We know exactly where we are” - Red Bull boss tight-lipped over Sergio Perez’s contract extension

Red Bull Racing CEO Christian Horner did not give away any information on re-signing Sergio Perez for 2025. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda after the Imola GP, the Brit said that they have their options and would announce a signing at the right time.

Perez had told Sportskeeda on Thursday that delays in signing a contract can be stressful and preferred knowing his future sooner rather than later. However, when onsite media including Sportskeeda probed Horner about the 2025 Red Bull Racing driver lineup scenario, the Brit did not say much.

At the moment, Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo are options, as long as the latter doesn’t take too long to turn around his performance or get outperformed by his younger teammate. But from the looks of it, Red Bull Racing wants to take its time.

Normally when the season starts to progress, a gap starts to build between the Mexican driver and Max Verstappen. With Ferrari and McLaren closing in on them, a change in the lineup could be an option if their Constructors' championship and drivers are under threat for the following year.

Asked by Sportskeeda about their driver lineup situation for 2025, the Red Bull Racing's boss said:

"I think with the whole driver market is sort of playing itself out and you know, we know exactly where we're at and where our options are. And in the timing that's right for us, we’ll make decisions about the future."

Asked how close they were to signing Perez or if it was a matter of finalizing terms and conditions, he added:

“Checo is always a very straightforward guy to deal with. So I wouldn't expect that to be an issue.”

---

Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes P7 was the furthest Sergio Perez would get in the Imola GP

Christian Horner reckoned their simulations showed that a seventh place for Sergio Perez was the maximum from 11th on the grid. Given that there were no incidents or safety cars in the race, Red Bull expected him to finish where he did.

Horner felt the Mexican’s underwhelming performance through the weekend was not a concern and a one-off. He felt the next race in Monaco would be a strong circuit for him.

Asked about Perez’s contrasting position to Verstappen, the Red Bull boss told media including Sportskeeda:

“I think our simulation said the same as we were saying before the race, that P7 was potentially optimal and no cars, nothing happened, no safety cars or anything like that. He had one trip through the gravel that cost him about six seconds. But I think that was about the maximum that you could get from that grid position today.”

Asked if it is a similar trend from the last two seasons where a gap builds between both Red Bull drivers and Perez struggles in Europe, Horner said:

“I think its just a bonus in Monaco next weekend, and then we leave Europe again. So, yeah, I think it's just a blip… So he's always gone well at Monaco, so we'll see.”

Defending Perez’s situation in the race today, Horner continued:

“It's a 24 race calendar, so you know he’s had a great start to the year. His approach has been been very strong he's changed his approach a bit this year and you know yeah today's result was dictated by yesterday's qualifying.”

Listening to Perez’s radio, there was a point where his medium tires were the only benefit to help him finish in the points. Far away from his teammate's win, the Mexican was on the back foot since the start of the weekend.

He had explained to Sportskeeda after the race suggesting that he was experimenting with different setups with his car due to the unique track characteristics. Despite the victory, this was Red Bull’s win by the narrowest margin of 0.725 seconds ahead of Lando Norris. But the gap between the Red Bull duo was significant, where the 34-year-old finished 54 seconds behind his teammate.