Sergio Perez needs to step up and score more points consistently for the team, as Chrisitan Horner has made plain, especially with Ferrari and McLaren posing a bigger threat. Red Bull is likely to extend his contract, which expires at the end of the current campaign, but this might change if returns keep going downhill.

For Perez, the Monaco Grand Prix was a weekend to forget. For the second year in a succession, the Mexican racer was eliminated in the first qualifying round because he had trouble controlling his RB20 through the winding streets of Monte Carlo. Then, on the first lap of the race, Kevin Magnussen hooked him from behind, which resulted in a significant collision at Beau Rivage.

Red Bull suffered greatly as a result of Perez’s awful weekend. The six-time Grand Prix winner has dropped to fifth in the Drivers’ Championship standings, 62 points behind teammate Max Verstappen, while the defending champions are currently only 26 points ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship.

Assessing Perez’s performance in Monaco, Horner said: “This weekend’s been pretty brutal for him. Obviously, we need to make sure that we’ve got both cars up there scoring points because we cannot dismiss the threat of Ferrari and McLaren in both championships.

“[In] Checo’s first six races he was very strong. He was qualifying on the front row and finishing second and third, and scoring very well. We just need to get him back into that position of confidence and not see a dip.”

The schedule for Perez’s new deal, Horner maintains, has not altered despite a troubling weekend in Monte Carlo. “No, not at all,” he clarified. “I believe there’s more… we’ll decide when the time is right.”

ESPN reported that Horner’s remarks are accurate. Red Bull decided against their options for the 2025 season, thus the former Sauber and Racing Point driver will get a one-year contract extension. He will have to wait for confirmation of his future, though.

In order to accommodate Lewis Hamilton, who is set to depart Ferrari at the end of the 2024 season, the Milton Keynes-based team had considered making a bid for Carlos Sainz. But Red Bull executives have now disqualified the Spaniard, and since Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda are not very tempting, Perez will continue to ride with Verstappen for another year.