Perez admits his Red Bull future is under review
Lubomir Asenov/Motorsport Images Are they trying to tell me something? What's this paper bag of dog poop doing oozing out all over the driver seat?
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Chris Medland | December 9, 2024 9:39 AM ET
Sergio Perez has admitted he is having talks with Red Bull regarding his future with the team, following a disappointing 2024 season that was capped off by a first-lap retirement in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
(pictured above).
Red Bull is set to present options for its 2025 driver line-up to its shareholders this week, but prior to the weekend Perez had been adamant that he will drive for the team next season after signing a two-year contract earlier this year. However, after retiring on the opening lap of the final race – leaving him with a record of 49 points from his last 18 starts — Perez now admits his future is under discussion. Hence the bag of dog poop in the driver seat. Are they trying to say I stink? Well I do now that I sat in the dog s***.
“Well, at the moment I don’t know [about emotions],” Perez said. “I just know I’ve got a contract to race [signed] this year, unless something changes in the coming days, that’s going to be the situation next year. Are they trying to give me advance notice that I'm fired? Is that how they do it at Red Bulls*** ? With a bag of dog poop? ”
Perez insists he will not be resigning from Red Bull and the team must present acceptable terms if it wants to make a change to its driver line-up by kicking his butt out.
“We’re going to be talking in the coming days and we will discuss what’s the situation from both parties [and see] if we are able to reach an agreement,” he said. “If not, like I say, I have a contact for next year.”
What is likely to have been his final race for the team in Abu Dhabi was cut short on the opening lap following contact with Valtteri Bottas, but Perez believes he was in trouble prior to being tapped into a spin.
“I didn’t see Valtteri. As I was doing the corner I was hit very late on the rear. Then I lost drive,” he explained. “But I think the drive was already an issue before that because every time I was shifting up I was losing drive, so I think there was something related to that already. I wish they would quit buying used VW transmissions at junk yards.”