Sergio Perez confesses its “very difficult to focus” on racing over career uncertainty

Speculation regarding Sergio Perez's career at Red Bull has been an age-old rumor since the start of the 2024 season.

Sergio Perez confesses its “very difficult to focus” on racing over career uncertainty

Sergio Perez (via IMAGO)

Red Bull finds itself in a vulnerable position in the constructor’s standings. McLaren has already overtaken the Austrian giant, while Ferrari has started making dents in Red Bull’s lead. On the other hand, the team’s woes in the constructor’s standings have often been accredited to Sergio Perez‘s inability to score points. With fellow senior figures following on with such statements, the Mexican admitted that focusing on racing has been quite difficult for him lately.

Sergio Perez has performed sub-optimally in the woeful RB20. However, the blame has been put on the 34-year-old more often than not. His teammate, Max Verstappen, in the same car, has been able to score more than double his points and has won seven races this season. Such statistics have made Perez’s case even worse as Red Bull is now in danger of losing the second spot in the constructor’s standings to Ferrari.

YouTube video

This has led a narrative to develop in the paddock that the Mexican’s job security is highly uncertain, despite his signing a contract extension earlier this year. Such speculations have taken a toll on Perez as he revealed that such things were too much for him, causing him to lose focus in his pursuit to regain his mojo.

FS Video

But it got to a point where it was just too much, where it became very difficult to focus on my stuff, and a lot of judgement was passed on myself, on my career. Everyone seemed to have an opinion on what I was doing right and wrong out of the car, with my life.

Sergio Perez said in an interview with The New York Times

On the other hand, the 34-year-old has been a great teammate to Verstappen in previous seasons. Thus, if he could get up to his former pace and help the Dutchman win the driver’s title, he could be in with a shot to secure his drive for 2025 amidst the high-ranking talents in Red Bull’s driver pool.

Sergio Perez remains optimistic for the constructor’s title fight

While Perez is trying to get back to his former form, the Milton Keynes-based squad has been losing out in the constructor’s tussle. Moreover, the gap to Ferrari is down to a mere eight points. This has made Red Bull’s stature in the standings even more precarious.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez (via IMAGO)

Despite the statistics pointing in a different direction, the six-time race winner asserted that the Red Bull pair would give their all to regain the grip on the constructor’s title.

The numbers and the facts will remain within the team and the engineers. We know what was the delta. I think it doesn’t change anything [with Ferrari getting into the mix in Constructors’]. We want to win the Constructors, for that we need to have both cars with the best possible performance the best possible package.

Sergio Perez said in an interview

On the other hand, the battle for the driver’s championship has been heating up as Lando Norris and Verstappen had a flashpoint in Austin. With Norris trailing by 57 points in the championship, the reigning champion appears to be in the prime position for adding another title to his cabinet.