Sergio Perez is contesting his fourth season with Red Bull
After two years of talking about beating Max Verstappen to the title, Jeroen Bleekemolen believes Sergio Perez has “let go” of that dream.
Back in 2022 and again last season, Perez spoke of becoming Mexico’s first-ever F1 World Champion as he looked to replace his team-mate Verstappen as Red Bull’s number one driver.
Sergio Perez has ‘let go’ of his title dream
Both years he fell short of the task, undone by Verstappen as the Dutchman romped unchallenged to a hat-trick of World titles.
This year, Perez has not once talked about title ambitions.
Instead, he has seemingly settled into his role as Red Bull’s number two driver, bagging three runner-up results behind Verstappen in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and in Japan.
Dutch racing driver Bleekemolen believes Perez has accepted the facts.
“I think Perez has let go of wanting to beat Verstappen,” he told NOS. “Perez makes small mistakes that Verstappen does not make.
“I thought he had a strong weekend. It is clear that he is a little slower (than Verstappen).”
Can Sergio Perez hold onto his Red Bull race seat?
But whether his acceptance and the intra-team harmony that comes with it will ensure he has a future with Red Bull is anyone’s guess, with Red Bull not yet willing to commit to their 2025 line-up.
Perez joined the team in 2021 and last season helped Red Bull to their first-ever 1-2 in the Drivers’ Championship.
But destroyed by his team-mate who claimed 19 wins to Perez’s two, Bleekemolen said: “He must certainly fear for next season.”
However, Viaplay’s Tom Coronel believes Perez is at the front of the line for the 2025 Red Bull seat, which would be his fifth year with the team.
“Yes,” he said of Perez’s chances for 2025, “because if you put two youngsters in that car, they will be at each other’s throats. Such a youngster immediately wants to show what he can do.”
He pointed to team boss Christian Horner’s praise for Perez’s performances in Japan, even though he wasn’t able to take the fight to Verstappen, as a sign that Horner’s in favour of holding onto the Mexican driver.
“He started praising Checo a bit,” he said. “Hello, you have a driver who won by twelve seconds and could have made that thirty if he wanted to. Something is not quite right there.”
As for Perez, who is second in the Drivers’ standings 14 points behind Verstappen, he’s hoping to have his future resolved within the next month.
“I’m very relaxed about it. It’s my 14th season in F1. Whatever comes next, I’m really pleased with what I’ve done in the sport so far and I believe it will be a matter of time,” Perez told Sky Sports F1.
“The driver market is moving and the next few weeks, there will be a lot of movement for sure. I expect in a month to really know what I’m doing next year.”
