Mexican Sergio Perez has admitted his Formula 1 future with Red Bull is in doubt ahead of talks with his team this week.
Max Verstappen’s struggling teammate was adamant throughout the season that he would still be there next year, despite a disastrous run of results that ultimately cost Red Bull the constructors’ title.
Perez admitted the situation was uncertain after withdrawing from Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“We will see what happens in the coming days, I don’t know what will happen at the moment, I have a contract and the team and I have talked,” he said in Red Bull’s post-race press note.
“It’s a matter of discussing what is best for everyone moving forward,” he added.
On Sunday, Perez was injured for the second time in a row and retired after a first-lap clash with Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas.
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The Mexican finished the season with 152 points compared to four-time champion Verstappen, who scored 437 points and just 49 points from the last 18 races.
Perez was also the only driver from the top four teams not to take a victory this year. Verstappen won eight wins and took his fourth consecutive title in Las Vegas last month with two rounds remaining.
Team principal Christian Horner said after the Qatar Grand Prix, the weekend before Abu Dhabi, that he would let Perez “draw his own conclusions”.
“Now we have the season behind us, so we will sit down with him and reflect on it and where it went wrong and together we will determine what is the right and proper solution,” he said on Sunday.
New Zealand’s Liam Lawson, currently with Red Bull-owned RB, appears to be the favorite to take Perez’s place should the team decide to sideline the Mexican.
