Sergio Perez’s contract history that suggests how Red Bull axe could play out

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Sergio Perez could be entering the final races of his Formula 1 career with Red Bull following a disappointing season with the team.

The Mexican is now 242 points behind Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship following a string of poor results, including finishing last at his home race following a collision with Liam Lawson.

Red Bull was patient with the Mexican, especially considering Perez’s European season was characterized by the same errors that he committed previously in both qualifying and the races.

Christian Horner has increased the pressure on Perez as the final three races near after Red Bull slipped behind both Ferrari and McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship.

Mathematically they are still in a shot of taking the title, however, the focus has now switched to Verstappen and his defence of his Drivers’ Championship against Lando Norris.

Perez is reportedly in breach of his contract given the points deficit to Verstappen, with Red Bull rumoured to be facing paying millions if they want to sever his 2025 agreement.

Discussing it on the Formula Latina podcast, journalist Diego Mejia has outlined why Perez’s previous contract history could point to him being axed.

Sergio Perez contract history at Racing Point could lead to Red Bull axe

Prior to joining Red Bull in the 2021 season, Perez had spent several years at Force India (now Aston Martin).

When the takeover of Force India happened following the team’s purchase from Lawrence Stroll, the Mexican was overlooked in favour of them bringing in four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

According to Mejia, Perez’s manager Julian Jakobi has dealt with these scenarios before and is familiar with how to handle them.

“Perez always responds to questions about his future. He has a signed contract, the renewal was made public, and everyone knows him. Just like the contract he signed for Racing Point was year-to-year and the day he renewed for several seasons, that was the contract he never fulfilled because they replaced him with Sebastian Vettel,” said Mejia.

“His manager (Jakobi) also knows what these things are like having dealt with Schumacher’s arrival in F1 and Prost and Senna being teammates at McLaren. For Red Bull, it will be surely very expensive not to fulfil that contract if that is what they ultimately decide.”

Franco Colapinto a more popular driver than Sergio Perez

One of the main fears of losing Sergio Perez for F1 has been the impact it might have on the Latin and South American market.

Perez has significant reach in these markets, but now there is interest in Williams’ young driver Franco Colapinto after a string of successful races for the team.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Sergio Perez’s life outside F1 from net worth to nickname

Colapinto has reportedly drawn interest from billionaire businessman Carlos Slim, which could plug up any gap left by Perez leaving.

Red Bull will likely decide on what it plans to do with their driver lineup in the off-season, once things become clearer from a competitive point of view.