Red Bull Racing have witnessed rare struggles this season as Ferrari and McLaren dramatically closed down significant gap with the help of timely upgrades. After Charles Leclerc’s Monaco win, F1 has now three non-RB winners the season, which is a significant jump from last year.
That being said, Red Bull are also contemplating on the future while working on resolving RB20’s issues. Sergio Perez’s future remains a matter of discussion as his contract runs out by the end of the year. And if latest reports are to believed, Checo is set to be rewarded for his resurgence in 2024 F1 season.
Red Bull Agrees To Retain Checo Until 2025
F1’s driver market has been unusually active at this time of the year, all thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s sensational Ferrari move. Teams have been rushing to secure their drivers amid a volatile market. However, a few are also sorting out options to replace the non-performing drivers. Notably, Sergio Perez of Red Bull was on the verge of losing his seat last year before he finished second in the drivers’ standings, 200+ points behind his teammate Max Verstappen. Nevertheless, a late resurgence was enough for RB to let Checo see the end of his contract, which expires this year. Interestingly, Perez has been surprisingly close to Max this year, as he finished P2 in three of the first four races. While his qualifying performance is still unsatisfactory, RB seems happy with his resurgence this year.
And despite Carlos Sainz being available on the market, Red Bull has reportedly agreed to offer an extension contract to Sergio Perez. As per Motorsport Total, Checo has agreed to a one-year extension deal which allows him to stay in Milton Keynes until 2025. An official announcement is expected before the Canadian Grand Prix, which is scheduled to hit the floors from June 7-9. Notably, Checo initially wanted a minimum of a 2-year deal, citing upcoming regulation changes. However, it seems RB managed to negotiate it to one year, thus leaving options open for the 2026 season, where a lot of things will change for the drink-based team. On the other hand, from Sergio Perez’s point of view, he needs to treat this extension deal as a lifeline to salvage his dying racing career.
RB Incurs $2-3 Million Loss In Checo’ Horrific Monaco GP Crash
On lap 1 of the Monaco Grand Prix, Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen ramped into each other which caused a massive and dangerous crash. Checo miraculously walked off his squished car unhurt. However, the condition of the car surely sent jitters in the Red Bull camp as the damage seemed severe.
Team principal Christian Horner revealed that Red Bull could likely incur a loss of around $2-3 million in repairs which will in turn create a massive dent in their development for the rest of the season. “This is a big handicap for us with the budget cap,” said Horner. Interestingly, both Checo and Magnussen escaped sanctions as FIA didn’t investigate the collision.
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