Sergio Perez told what Red Bull driver must now do to secure 2025 F1 contract

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Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan feels Sergio Perez is doing enough ‘for now’ to earn a new contract at Red Bull for the 2025 F1 season but a problem waits down the road.

The Mexican’s future in Milton Keynes remains in doubt with Perez out of contract with Red Bull after this season. Team principal Christian Horner is not rushing to decide if the 34-year-old will drive for them again next year. He has been Max Verstappen’s teammate since 2021.

Perez agreed a contract with Red Bull through the 2024 season after he won the Monaco GP in 2022. But his dreams of challenging Verstappen for the drivers’ championship evaporating drastically last year raised question marks about his ongoing place in their garage past 2024.

Sergio Perez is driving for his future in Formula 1 with Red Bull beyond the 2024 season

Red Bull looked set to have an internal duel for top honours last year after Perez burst out of the gates with two wins from the opening four Grand Prix. He also did the double in Baku by winning the Sprint and Azerbaijan GP following his Saudi Arabian GP win from pole position.

Perez also left Jeddah just one point behind Verstappen in the drivers’ standings last season. But he trails the three-time reigning champion by 15 points this season, having scored seven fewer points through the opening two rounds. Perez earned 43 points a year ago, to 36 now.

But Doohan feels P2 finishes are all that Perez requires to show Red Bull that he deserves a contract extension. The Alpine reserve driver believes the Milton Keynes team do not want Perez to be fighting Verstappen for the title but scoring the points for the teams’ standings.

Jack Doohan believes Sergio Perez is doing enough ‘for now’ to earn a contract for 2025

Perez finished the Bahrain GP in second but was a distant 22.457 seconds from Verstappen. He also ended the Saudi Arabian GP 13.643s behind his teammate after a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release. But Doohan backs Red Bull to want Perez to close that margin.

“I think, for now, he’s doing enough,” Doohan told the F1 Nation podcast. “While that Red Bull has that substantial gap over the rest of the field, he’s doing enough. We can see he’s trailing potentially between two to four-tenths [of a second per lap] away from Max.

“When the field do, and I hope, finally close up on that Red Bull and that gap closes down to one or two-tenths – taking away whether Max puts a tenth over the car on his perfect day or what – Checo is going to have to close up.

“He’s going to have to really try and get more out of that Red Bull to really make sure that he’s keeping that one-two.

“And he’s making sure that he’s keeping them and the car in the window where he’s able to keep a healthy lead in the constructors’ [standings] and do what they want him to do. They don’t want him to get too close to Max. But, for right now, he’s doing what he needs to do.”