Sergio Perez and Christian Horner discuss Red Bull driver’s F1 future as

Sergio Perez’s contract expires at the end of this year but he is “relaxed” about the situation after some strong results in the opening four events; F1 returns to Shanghai for the first time in five years for the Chinese Grand Prix on April 19-21, live on Sky Sports F1

Sergio Perez believes he will have clarity over his F1 future “in a month” but team principal Christian Horner says Red Bull are “not in a huge rush” to finalise their 2025 driver line-up.

Perez is one of 12 drivers without a contract for next year but has enjoyed a strong start to the season with three second places from four races, with his latest podium coming at Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.

The Mexican came into the season under pressure to keep his seat after a largely disappointing second half of 2023, where he was often a long way off Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso are among the drivers out of contract at the end of this year and both have been linked to Red Bull.

However, Perez is seemingly doing all he can to keep his seat alongside Verstappen, whose current deal expires in 2028.

“I’m very relaxed about it. It’s my 14th season in F1. Whatever comes next, I’m really pleased with what I’ve done in the sport so far and I believe it will be a matter of time,” Perez told Sky Sports F1.

“The driver market is moving and the next few weeks, there will be a lot of movement for sure. I expect in a month to really know what I’m doing next year.”

Horner: Few more races before we think about 2025

Perez qualified just 0.066s behind pole-sitter Verstappen before coming through nicely in the race on a two-stop strategy where he needed to overtake several cars.

His two moves on the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell at the fast left-hand flick of 130R were the highlights on his way to second place.

Daniel Ricciardo’s disappointing start to the season at RB, Red Bull’s sister team, has certainly helped Perez’s chances of keeping his seat, and Horner says his driver needs to “keep up what he’s doing”.

“The whole driver market seems to be very early this year,” said Horner.

“Everybody seems to be rushing around and we’re only four races into the year. We are not in a huge rush and obviously there’s a significant amount of interest in our cars, as you would expect.

“Checo has the priority and…