The Mexican Grand Prix was a disaster for Sergio Perez, with Telcel and Telmex, two of his major sponsors, reportedly close to leaving Red Bull. If true, this scenario could bring the Mexican driver closer to an exit.
Sergio Perez’s result in the Mexican GP was extremely disappointing, especially in front of his home crowd. A disastrous qualifying session, ending in P17, race contacts, penalties, and car damage led to a poor performance for the Mexican. The race triggered concerns from Christian Horner and Helmut Marko about Sergio Perez’s chances of staying with Red Bull, with reports suggesting two of his main sponsors might be on the verge of departing.
This “disaster class” opens the door wider for Perez’s exit, as he’s been unable to keep pace with Verstappen in recent races. In Saturday’s qualifying alone, Max Verstappen outpaced Sergio Perez by more than 0.8 seconds—a massive gap for cars in the same configuration. This gap indicates not a shortfall in the RB20’s performance but rather Sergio Perez’s difficulty in maximizing its potential. The , on the other hand, is extracting every last fraction of performance from his RB20.
As for Sergio Perez, Christian Horner admitted after the race that it’s “time to make some tough decisions,” one of which will certainly be Max Verstappen’s teammate for the 2025 Formula 1 championship. Although Sergio Perez managed to secure a contract extension through 2024 with Red Bull, as is well-known, the value of a contract under Christian Horner and Helmut Marko holds mainly economic weight and does not guarantee a permanent seat.
The Seat is Heating Up
If stability was the team’s goal, one of the reasons for Perez’s continued stay could now be slipping away. According to AutoRacing1, Carlos Slim, a major backer of Sergio Perez through his companies Telcel and Telmex, may no longer appear on Red Bull’s 2025 livery.
This follows Red Bull’s recent announcement of a partnership with telecom giant AT&T, a direct competitor of Telmex, particularly in Mexico. “We are in talks with the team,” Slim said. “We’re still talking with them, but the intention will always be to continue supporting Checo. We’ll certainly continue to support him.”
“Checo’s contract is separate from our sponsorship contribution to the team. It’s always been that way since we’ve been with this team. But if we no longer have the chance to work with the team, we’ll definitely want to continue working with Checo. Our goal is to keep the partnership, regardless of which team Checo is with.”
The potential departure of these two sponsors should no longer affect Red Bull’s decision to keep Sergio Perez. With the new AT&T sponsorship, Milton Keynes is unlikely to miss the funds Telcel and Telmex might no longer provide.
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