Red Bull have now given clearest indication yet that Sergio Perez will keep his seat for 2025

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Red Bull Racing face one of the toughest driver decisions they’ve ever had to make at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

Max Verstappen is set to win his fourth consecutive title, but the Constructors’ Championship appears to have slipped from Red Bull’s grasp.

That’s because Sergio Perez has failed to come close to the required levels to support his Dutch teammate.

There are extra considerations that need to be made, primarily that the RB20 simply hasn’t been fast enough.

Perez has received apologies from the Red Bull team after the issues he flagged more than a year ago were finally echoed by Verstappen and worked on seriously by the team.

However, Perez is sitting more than 200 points behind his teammate in the Drivers’ Championship and could finish 8th, behind both McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes drivers.

This has created plenty of speculation as to whether Perez will still be on the grid next year.

Perez signed a new contract at the Canadian Grand Prix that runs until the end of the 2025 season with an option for an extra year.

A report from the Spanish outlet MARCA believes that Perez is set to start next season as a Red Bull driver.

In fact, team principal Christian Horner may have already agreed to decisions that will confirm his place alongside Verstappen at Albert Park for next year’s season opener in Australia.

Sergio Perez handed big boost as he hopes to remain a Red Bull driver in 2025

The report talks about how Perez survived talks during the summer break when it was believed he could be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo has since moved on and his successor Liam Lawson is now the favourite to replace Perez.

However, Perez has been given ‘every chance’ to remain a Red Bull driver for next year and even found ‘very powerful’ new sponsors for 2025.

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Red Bull have also ‘given him the go-ahead’ to start making new merchandise and branded clothing for next year, something that requires approval in advance from the team’s commercial branch who report to Horner.

Although the names of Perez’s new sponsors aren’t public yet, they are likely to come from Carlos Slim’s group of companies.

Slim had an interest in backing Franco Colapinto who has also been linked with replacing Perez, but he isn’t guaranteed a spot on the grid next year.

The new sponsors for Red Bull are linked ‘solely and exclusively’ to Perez meaning if he were to leave, the team would lose significant backing.

How much Sergio Perez’s new sponsors could bring to Red Bull next season

Perez is a hugely popular driver, especially in Mexico, Latin America and South America.

Although his homecoming race in Mexico City didn’t go to plan, he was still adored by the hundreds of thousands of fans who entered the circuit.

Perez reportedly earns a £7.7m-a-year salary (as per MARCA) and all of this is covered by his sponsors.

Not only that but in addition to paying his salary, his sponsors also pay an additional £23.2m to the team, something that’s vitally important in the F1 cost cap era.

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Perez also helps F1 sell a considerable amount of tickets at four of their races.

Miami, Austin, Las Vegas and of course, his home race in Mexico City are all partially reliant on the 34-year-old’s popularity.

That appears to be enough to convince Red Bull to continue with Perez, although they will need to see an improvement in his performances sooner rather than later.