How much it will cost Red Bull to pay off Sergio Perez as driver decision looms

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Sergio Perez is driving for his Red Bull future at the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend. The team have repeatedly said that they will make a decision during the summer break.

Perez’s Hungarian GP threatened to spiral into disaster. He crashed out in Q1, spinning into the barriers in tricky conditions.

But the Mexican then produced a respectable fightback in the race to take seventh place – his joint-best result since Miami. Mercedes driver George Russell was surprised by the pace Perez showed.

If Perez can have a cleaner weekend at Spa, and bring home a healthy haul of points, then it may just be enough to keep his drive. With Max Verstappen due to receive a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change, he’ll be the lead Red Bull on the grid provided he reaches Q3.

Regardless of how the race pans out, Red Bull will be entitled to make a change should they wish. The contract Perez signed last month features a break clause that’s triggered if he’s more than 100 points behind Verstappen.

The gap is currently 141, which means it’s unassailable at one race. Liam Lawson and Daniel Ricciardo will be keen observers of Perez’s performance, but Christian Horner doesn’t think Yuki Tsunoda has the mental strength, which rules him out of contention.

Sergio Perez’s Red Bull pay-off – and how it compares to losing out on the constructors’

According to ESPN, it will cost Red Bull around Perez $5m (or £3.8m) to buy Perez out of his contract. It’s not as simple as triggering the break clause and cutting ties.

In addition, the Milton Keynes outfit would lose the financial backing the 34-year-old brings from his commercial connections. He has deals with the likes of Disney, Telcel, Nescafe and KitKat.

However, Red Bull are also aware that they will lose about $10m (£7.8m) if they finish behind McLaren in the constructors’ championship. Andrea Stella’s team have closed the gap to 51 points after a one-two at the Hungaroring.

What’s more, they also stand to lose out on bonuses from their partners if they fail to defend their title. And as the report points out, Perez also topped the crash damage standings earlier in the season, punting a further dent in the team’s budget.

Perez media behaviour suggests he ‘knows’ his future

Red Bull engineers have already warned Horner that they could miss out on the championship if they retain Perez. The decision to hand him an extension so early in the season has aged very poorly indeed.

Executive director Helmut Marko admits that Perez’s underperformance is the team’s biggest problem right now. While recent upgrades have failed to deliver the desired results, there’s still much more potential in the car than he’s been able to extract.

Perez has produced some solid results in Belgium in recent years. He’s finished second to Verstappen in the last two runnings, albeit after penalties for the Dutchman.

But some suspect his fate may already be sealed. According to one journalist, the ‘timid’ Perez seemingly knows he’s not going to recover from this position, and he may be assessing alternative F1 options in the background.