Formula 1 descends on Mexico this weekend for the second part of the Americas triple header, and the focus will be on one man more than most: home hero Sergio Perez.
The Red Bull driver has had, in all fairness, a season to forget.
Whilst he remains on course for his best-ever championship finish in F1, second place won’t feel like much consolation given the way 2023 has unfolded for him.
Up against Max Verstappen, the fight was always going to be hard this year in trying to win the championship but having seen form largely desert him since the opening races of the year, this has been a season where speculation has mounted considerably over Perez’s very future in the sport.
A number of claims have been floating around the Mexican, to varying levels of plausibility.
Perhaps two of the most eye-catching, though, have been that he a) could be replaced by Red Bull at the end of the year if he does not finish in second in the championship or b) he could announce his retirement from the sport at his home race this very weekend.
Both, it must be said, have been dismissed categorically by team and driver respectively.
“It’s not something that we have discussed or even contemplated,” said Red Bull chief Christian Horner recently.
“Checo is our driver and we want to support him in the best way that we can.
“We believe that he can achieve that second place in the championship but he is up against tough competitors with a lot of racing still to go.
“We selected Checo in the first place because of his experience and his ability to be able to deal with pressure.
“He did a lot for us in ’21 and ’22, contributing to the constructors’ championship last year and this year with the victories he has achieved.
“We know what he is capable of and we haven’t seen that for the last couple of races. We want to support him to make sure he gets back to that early-season form.
“It’s a tough season and tough being Max’s team-mate – we mustn’t forget the challenge that is mentally.
“We know what Checo is capable of and we know that qualifying tends to be his weakness, but when racing he comes alive on a Sunday afternoon. He’s demonstrated that time and time again. We have six one-two finishes this year, he’s won two Grands Prix and he’s still second in the world championship 30 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton. It’s not all been bad!”
Meanwhile, Perez has said: “I’m just laughing at [the speculation.]
“There’s nothing I can do [to stop the spread of the rumours].
“I’m fully focused on my job, but it really sums up my season – a guy says something about me and then all of a sudden it becomes true.
“I have a contract for next year. I have no reason not to fulfil that contract.
“I’m going to give my very best to it. I’ve made a commitment. But more than that, it will not be my final contract in F1.”
Perez’s deal runs to the end of 2024, and it sounds as though he won’t be finished with F1 come that point, even if Red Bull potentially are done with him.
He may well get another year with the team next season to try and extend things further, though.
Whilst Red Bull want two strong drivers next year for a Constructors’ fight next season that is expected to be far closer than that of ’22 and ’23, who they actually could get to replace Perez is hard to say.
Lando Norris has obviously been heavily linked, and there has been interest from Red Bull, but the Briton is happy to stick with McLaren for the rest of his own contract with the team at least, thanks in part to the fine improvement the team has enjoyed over the course of this season.
Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson would be the next pair in line to be promoted from within, but neither seems quite ready for the job. Daniel Ricciardo has the personal clout to go up against Verstappen and represent Red Bull once more, but where is he actually as a driver at the moment? His recent hiatus thanks to a wrist injury hasn’t helped solve matters there.
Indeed, it seems right now that Perez could be on course for at least one more year with Red Bull next season – he will hope that the home crowd urging him on this weekend can kickstart both a strong finish to 2023 and perhaps one last hurrah in 2024.
