Eddie Jordan certain that 33-year-old F1 driver won’t lose his seat during 2024 season

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Eddie Jordan believes that Sergio Perez won’t be going anywhere anytime soon despite the recent rumours about his Red Bull future being in doubt.

Jordan was speaking on the Formula For Success Podcast about the Mexican’s future.

Last season started so promisingly for Sergio Perez but his form dipped dramatically after winning two of the first four races of the season.

He was let down time and again by his displays in qualifying with team principal Christian Horner admitting it’s something he needs to work on heading into next year.

Towards the end of the year with Perez nearly falling into the clutches of Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship, he picked up three top-four finishes to close out the campaign.

However, that didn’t stop the likes of Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo being linked with his seat.

Eddie Jordan now believes that Red Bull will honour Perez’s contract which runs until the end of 2024.

He might have some work to do to earn an extension and with plenty of driver changes potentially on the cards next year, Red Bull might be seeking other opportunities.

If that’s the case, then it certainly won’t be Max Verstappen that moves on.

Finding the right balance in the team is important though and while Perez doesn’t appear capable of challenging Verstappen, that might be what Horner is actually looking for.

Jordan back Perez to stay at Red Bull

Speaking about the 33-year-old’s future, Jordan said: “Checo [Perez] started the season so well, you know there was those couple of wins early on and he probably was on a bit of a high, mentally he probably felt so strong.

“And then he suddenly realised that when Max [Verstappen] kicked into gear so to speak and he found his real mojo – not that he ever really lost it throughout the season – he must be probably the most difficult teammate that you could ever hope or wish to have.

“Great for the team, but you know there’s been a lot of talk about Checo possibly being replaced, I personally don’t see that.

“I think he has a contract and I have a good idea of what the people in Red Bull, they’re pretty honourable people through and through and I don’t think we should probably even discuss it, but I think he’ll be there next year.”

Although Jordan says Red Bull are typically ‘honourable’ when it comes to their drivers, Perez will know that a few of his predecessors haven’t quite seen out their contracts in the past.

The likes of Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat know first-hand how brutal Horner and Helmut Marko can be.

Perez still managed to finish second in the championship to earn Red Bull their first-ever one-two in the Drivers’ Championship which can’t be forgotten.

However, the gap between himself and Max Verstappen shows how far off the pace he was compared to his teammate.

Red Bull will be considering their line-up for 2025 next summer and Perez will know he needs to stay in touch with the Dutchman up to that point to give himself a chance of earning a contract extension.