Red Bull: Sergio Perez’s contract will be discussed this summer

In an interview with the website Formel1.de, Red Bull’s head of the young driver program, Helmut Marko, said that discussions about Sergio Pérez joining the team will take place by the summer.

Just arrived within the Austrian team, the Mexican is facing some difficulties behind the wheel of the Red Bull, and is consistently trailing behind his teammate.

Having only a one-year contract, Sergio Perez’s future still remains uncertain. Nevertheless, Helmut Marko has assured that discussions with his driver should begin during the summer break.

We will start discussing no earlier than the summer break.

Doctor Marko is aware that a spot could open up within his team and that some drivers may try their luck. We are a highly sought-after partner in the transfer market. I do not think a driver will start negotiations or reach an agreement with another team before attempting to reach an agreement with us.

We are now fully focused on the World Championship, and we see no problem with who will be Max Verstappen’s teammate next year. It will certainly be a competitive guy. But there is still time.

« Sergio is a very competitive pilot.

Even if he is dominated by his young teammate (leading the championship), Helmut Marko remains satisfied with his driver’s performances, even if he still has to improve during qualifying.

Sergio is a very competitive driver and he still has time. We must start with the positive, it’s his race pace. He is very good and sometimes he is on the same pace as Max. He proved it in Monaco, there are three or four laps where he set the best times with already very worn tires. So, the race pace is there. The area where we still lack is qualifying. We need to see an improvement at this level.