Yuki Tsunoda claims Red Bull contracts “almost nothing” amidst Sergio Perez replacement rumors

Sergio Perez has been under immense pressure during the ongoing 2024 F1 season.

Yuki Tsunoda claims Red Bull contracts “almost nothing” amidst Sergio Perez replacement rumors

Yuki Tsunoda (L), Sergio Perez (R) (images via IMAGO)

Red Bull has been the talk of the paddock for the past few weeks in F1. The Milton Keynes-based squad has witnessed a slump in performance, and Sergio Perez‘s inability to score points in the past few races has acted as a double whammy. This has led to increasing speculations regarding the Mexican’s tenure with the Austrian giant., and now Yuki Tsunoda has cashed in on the opportunity by claiming that contracts mean nothing at Red Bull.

Sergio Perez joined Red Bull in 2021 to solve the second driver issues at the team. However, the Mexican’s pace deteriorated at a rapid manner towards the end of 2023 and has followed him into 2024. On the other hand, the 34-year-old was given a multi-year contract extension at Red Bull, but his subpar performance has led to the reveal of a performance clause in his article, which can be activated to terminate his contract and end his rut in Milton Keynes.

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While observing the plight of Perez, Yuki Tsunoda affirmed that contracts mean nothing at Red Bull.

Apparently, even what Helmut[Marko] says, Red Bull can play around with anything he wants. Even the contract is almost nothing. To be honest, I didn't read it properly. So whatever it says, I guess for now this team [RB] is where I'll be.
Yuki Tsunoda said in an interview with RacingNews365

The Japanese driver referred to Helmut Marko‘s previous statements and claimed that Horner & Co. could play around with the contracts. Moreover, this would not be the first time as similar instances have happened in the past with Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly. Thus, the Mexican is potentially in to lose his Red Bull seat in the following few weeks.

Yuki Tsunoda reckons it’s ‘quite clear’ regarding his candidature for the Red Bull seat

While Perez has slumped towards the rear of the grid, the RB pair has often been bringing home points and has been on similar pace to the 34-year-old. This has urged the Japanese driver to assert his position in the Red Bull ladder by pointing out his stellar performances during the current campaign.

Yuki Tsunoda
Yuki Tsunoda(via IMAGO)

Tsunoda referred to his impressive performances over the weekends.

For example, Montreal, I was in the points but lost the points myself. But other than that, please compare the Q3 appearances, my qualifying results and the race results, it will be clear. I mean in my opinion yes, it's quite clear.
Yuki Tsunoda said in an interview with PlanetF1

The Japanese driver further added.

But other than that I don’t know. It seems like there are also other factors obviously, because they are considering other drivers as well. It’s based on rumours, but… If you just see the performance, it’s quite clear like I said. It’s really clear that I’m the one performing well, even in the top of the midfield, if you compared to all the drivers.
Yuki Tsunoda via the same interview

Despite him being optimistic, the 24-year-old admitted that other factors played a factor in his candidature. However, he reckoned his performances were enough to substantiate his promotion to the senior team and showcase his skills in the dominant challenger.

On the other hand, Perez would be scrounging to save his seat at Milton Keynes. Thus, an interesting situation is developing inside Red Bull, which could result in the team losing the constructor’s battle, as second-driver troubles again haunt the Austrian outfit.

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