Powerful business interests look set to solidify Sergio Perez’s place at Red Bull Racing for 2025.
Despite his contract, the Mexican’s future has been under a dark cloud all season as he has struggled with the current car – resulting in Red Bull trailing McLaren and Ferrari in the lucrative constructors’ championship.
However, he insisted last time at Interlagos: “You will see me in Las Vegas and you will see me next year”.
Already this week it is rumored that one of Perez’s sponsors, who also supports the team, has organized a television series that will focus on the 34-year-old driver’s 2025 campaign.
And now, according to Spanish sports newspaper Marca, “several new sponsors for 2025 linked to Perez have signed with Red Bull”.
In response, team boss Christian Horner has reportedly given the green light to begin production of the team’s kits and merchandise for 2025 bearing the names of the new sponsors.
The name of the new sponsor is not yet known, but it would join Claro, Telcel and Infinitum, all part of Carlos Slim’s group, as well as Interproteccion, a global brokerage firm that has supported the driver for years.
Other sponsors linked to Perez are Banorte, ESPN, Jalisco and Uber.
These are pilot sponsorships, linked solely and exclusively to the fact that he remains in his cockpit, because otherwise they would abandon their investment and follow Perez to a new destination.
And, fascinatingly, another of Perez’s sponsors – Nestlé’s KitKat chocolate bar – has also just become a global sponsor of Formula 1 (read here).
As for Perez-specific Red Bull sponsorships, they would cover Perez’s approximately $10 million annual salary and still leave an additional $30 million for the team. Enough to compensate for the losses in the manufacturers’ championship.
At the recent Mexican GP, Horner had to admit Perez’s commercial appeal.
“Look, Checo is our driver. He has a contract for 2025,” he declared.
“Obviously we have huge support for him. I think he’s promoting everything from Uber Eats to toilet paper this weekend, so it’s impressive how many sponsors he has managed to get for himself.”
However, at the Brazilian GP, Horner insisted Red Bull was still keeping its options open for 2025.
“Liam Lawson did a great job in Brazil, and there’s Yuki Tsunoda. Liam, in particular, given his experience. Franco (Colapinto) is another talent. So, of course, you always have to keep an eye on the market to know how things are evolving.”
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