Sergio Perez has had a tough season, with his performance far behind that of his teammate Max Verstappen.

In the last five races, Perez scored just seven points, while the Dutchman has won twice, highlighting his poor performance this year that has damaged his reputation and made Red Bull's fight in the Constructors’ Championship more difficult.

As the final race in Abu Dhabi approaches, the Mexican is 275 points behind Verstappen, and it is now sure that he will finish the season in eighth place in the Drivers’ standings.

Despite this, Perez remains confident, stating that his multi-year contract, signed in June, guarantees his spot with the team until 2025. He has stayed firm in his belief that his place alongside Verstappen is secure, even as questions about his future continue to grow.

Red Bull has now also admitted that they tried to motivate Perez with an early extension to his contract this season but it didn’t have the intended effect as the renewal was meant to boost the Mexican’s confidence and give him stability, but his performance has not improved since then.

Team principal Christian Horner has acknowledged that the decision was made when Perez was performing well, with the aim of improving his performance further, but things, unfortunately, went in the opposite direction.

“Obviously, at the time, Sergio was performing extremely well,” said Horner, quoted by Motorsport.com, about the decision to go early with the deal.

“I think he had four podiums in the first five races and, in order to settle his mind and extend that run of form for the rest of the season, we elected to go early - which obviously didn't work. That's just life sometimes.

“But I think with Checo you have to look beyond this year for the contribution that he's made to our team. He's been a great team player. He's a great person. He's extremely popular within the team. He's worked very hard over the four years that he's been with us and he's played a vital role in the constructors’ championships that we've won, the five grand prix victories that he had in our car.

“It's been the most successful pairing that we've ever had, finishing first and second in the drivers' championship last year.”

Red Bull is now looking at other options for 2025 as there are rumors that Perez could be replaced by one of the team’s junior drivers, such as Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda.