Horner held talks with Perez in winter: 'Knows what to do'
F1 News
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez start the new Formula 1 season with completely different feelings. While the former is going for his fourth world title in a row, the Mexican realises he needs to perform to keep his seat in '25 as well. Not for the first time, Christian Horner reveals that Perez is fully in control of his own future at the team.
As the presentation of RB20 approaches and the test days also get closer, Horner reiterated to PlanetF1 that Perez is the right driver for Red Bull "at the moment". "It’s down to him over the next nine months to demonstrate that we feel that way for 2025," the team principal of the Austrian team told PlanetF1.
Horner has options for Perez
Daniel Ricciardo, Liam Lawson, even Yuki Tsunoda are all mentioned by Horner as options for Perez's seat in '25. A seat at the currently best team on the grid is in demand, so the Brit can say that Red Bull Racing currently has plenty of options to possibly replace Perez. So many options, in fact, that there would be drivers willing to race for free for Horner's team.
A smile appears on Horner's face when asked about this. "You can imagine that when you’ve got a car that’s won all bar one race, it’s pretty appealing to any driver on the grid,” he said, before reiterating that Perez is the man for his team for now.
Over the past period, Horner has had several talks with Perez, which give the team boss confidence: "I think he knows what he’s got to do, he’s been around the sport long enough, and he’s got enough experience," Horner concluded.