Sergio Perez 100% certain of 2024 Red Bull seat

AUSTIN, Texas – Sergio Pérez has denied reports he will retire from Formula 1 at the end of this year and remains 100% certain he will be a Red Bull driver in 2024.

Perez is currently far behind teammate Max Verstappen in this year’s Drivers’ Championship, scoring just 224 points compared to 433 for the recently crowned champion.

In the last three races, Perez slumped even more, scoring just five points to Verstappen’s 69.

Pressure on Perez intensified last week when a poster on Reddit claimed to have received information from a representative of Mexican telecommunications giant Telmex that Perez would announce his retirement during his home race in Mexico this weekend. -next end.

Speaking to reporters ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, Perez said the story was false.

“That really sums up my season: A guy says something about me and all of a sudden it becomes true,” he said. “But I have a contract for next year and I have no reason not to fulfill this contract.

“I will do my best, I have made a commitment but it will not be my last contract in Formula 1.”

Pérez said retiring from F1 at the end of this year would represent an easy way out of his current difficulties, but he is not prepared to accept it.

“It’s not ideal when you’re going through a difficult period in your career,” he said. “But I love the challenge of getting back into it. The easiest thing would be to get out of it. But it’s not me, it’s not who I am and I won’t give up.

“I have no doubt about getting back to my best and that’s the only goal I have in mind. I don’t even think about retirement or anything like that because it’s just the easiest way.”

Asked if he was sure his Red Bull contract was solid for 2024, he replied: “100 percent.

“I also have a contract and conversations with the team. There is no reason for me not to fulfill this contract.”

Perez said his lack of confidence in the Red Bull, particularly on corner entries, is to blame for his struggles, but admits the current performance gap with Verstappen is unacceptable.

“We certainly can’t have that kind of gap,” he said. “I think basically let’s go back to the first six races or so and we were fighting with Max. That’s the goal, to get back to that comfort level with the car.”

“My problems are real and we struggled a bit with the car and I hope next year can be a different story, just like these next five races.”