Only days after his win at the Monaco Grand Prix, Sergio Perez has signed a contract extension that will see him at Red Bull until the end of 2024.
Since arriving in Formula 1 back in 2011, Perez had picked up a good few podiums throughout his career but it was his good run of form at the end of 2020 which sealed the deal for Red Bull Racing.
The Mexican joined Red Bull at the start of 2021 and since then has almost doubled the number of podiums he had prior to that. In the seven races so far this season Perez has taken three P2s as well as taking his first Monaco Grand Prix victory after being the stronger of the two Red Bull drivers all weekend.
“For me, this has been an incredible week,” Perez said. “Winning the Monaco Grand Prix is a dream for any driver and then to follow that with announcing I will continue with the team until 2024 just makes me extremely happy.
Perez: Monaco win “a dream come true”
“I am so proud to be a member of this team and I feel completely at home here now. We are working very well together and my relationship with Max, on and off the track, is definitely helping drive us forward even more. We have built tremendous momentum as a team and this season is showing that, I am excited to see where that can take us all in the future.”
With the first third of the season completed, Red Bull sit at the top of the teams’ championship with a 36 point gap to Ferrari while Max Verstappen, Red Bull’s reigning drivers’ champion, and Perez are 1st and 3rd in the drivers’ standings with only 15 points between the two. That, coupled with the Mexican’s experience, meant that his re-signing was a “no-brainer” according to Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner.
“Since joining Oracle Red Bull Racing, Checo has done a fantastic job,” said Horner. “Time and again he has proved himself to not only be a magnificent team player but as his level of comfort has grown he has become a real force to be reckoned with at the sharp end of the grid.
“This year he has taken another step and the gap to World Champion Max has closed significantly, evidenced by his superb pole position in Jeddah earlier this year and by his wonderful win in Monaco just last weekend.
“For us, holding onto his pace, race craft and experience was a no-brainer and we are delighted that Checo will continue to race for the team until 2024. In partnership with Max we believe we have a driver pairing that can bring us the biggest prizes in F1.”
Never give up on your dreams 🙌 Vamos @SChecoPerez 🔥 #F1 pic.twitter.com/4h1pA92d82
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) May 31, 2022