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Sergio Perez has had a brilliant start with Red Bull this season. The Mexican driver entered the 2024 F1 season under pressure and was not sure if he would be able to keep his seat. Well, five races into the season, he's already talking about getting a contract extension.
Not only that, he has been praised by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and the F1 pundits for his form revival.
Among all of this, Sergio Perez's contract comes to an end in 2024. In the last year of his contract, a renewal is something that he would more than welcome. However, 4 podiums in the first five races don't necessarily guarantee a contract extension. Here's why.
#1 The gap between him and Max Verstappen is still quite big
After the first five races, Perez has been impressive in securing 4 podiums, but at the same time, the gap between him and Max Verstappen is still appreciable. There's close to 3 to 4 tenths of a second gap between the two drivers, even on days when the Mexican is nailing things perfectly.
The average gap in qualifying between Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen after the first 5 races is around three-tenths of a second. If you compare this baseline with how Perez performed in the first 5 races in 2022 and 2023, you see a difference.
The first difference is that in 2022, Perez had already outqualified Max Verstappen in a couple of races and even had a win to his name. In 2023, Sergio Perez had two wins to his name and was even considered a possible challenger to Max.
Hence, this early season form might look good, but Red Bull has seen this story before and hence wants to see Perez perform for the entire season before signing an extension.
#2 We're only 5 races into the season
To add to the previous point, if we start passing sweeping judgments on the basis of just 5 races of 2024, then we will mostly get things wrong. For instance, Lewis Hamilton would not be considered the top driver that he is, Carlos Sainz would be considered better than Charles Leclerc, and similarly, Sergio Perez would be considered a driver who deserves a contract extension.
Unfortunately, the past has already shown that Sergio Perez has seen his performances taper off after a strong start to the year, which is precisely why Red Bull's Christian Horner is not too eager to immediately extend the Mexican's contract.
#3 Will Sergio Perez be happy with a single-year extension?
What the onlookers might not understand is that Red Bull has all the cards in its favor when it comes to finally taking a call on Max Verstappen's teammate. It does not have to hurry because Perez is not on the job market looking for better offers.
Red Bull has the best car on the grid, and if Perez doesn't stay, other options would at least do a decent enough job. The team could promote a Yuki Tsunoda or a Daniel Ricciardo to the senior team.
Or it could poach Pierre Gasly, whose contract ends, or maybe Esteban Ocon as well. There are far too many options for Red Bull to not feel secure about taking as long as possible to be convinced.
