Helmut Marko remains non-committal on Sergio Perez's Red Bull future

Red Bull's Helmut Marko has remained non-committal when it comes to Sergio Perez's future with the team. Not too long ago, the Mexican was reported to be on the verge of losing his seat with the team during the summer break.

In what was a surprise for many, Perez held on to his seat with the team beyond the summer break as Red Bull reaffirmed its trust in the driver. On the contrary, his primary rival, Daniel Ricciardo has been shown the door already by the team, and ideally, that should have been a relief for the Mexican.

Well, that's not the case. Helmut Marko continues to remain non-committal about Perez's future with Red Bull. Talking to Sport.de, Marko clarified that the driver was just not consistent and lacked adaptability on the new upgrades, which ended up hurting him.

He said,

“Perez has fluctuations, we know that,” he told RTL/ntv and sport.de. “Especially when the car is modified at short notice, it takes him longer to adapt. That is certainly one factor why McLaren is currently stronger than us in terms of driver pairings."

Talking about the possibility of Perez continuing with Red Bull into 2025, Marko said:

“In terms of speed, he can do it. He just has fluctuations that are becoming more and more unpredictable."

Perez officially has a contract in place for the next two seasons. He signed an extension with Red Bull early in the year for the next two years. However, the Mexican has a few performance clauses in the contract that could come into the picture if Perez does not improve the results.

Sergio Perez admits he had thoughts about retiring from F1

In an interview with DAZN, Sergio Perez talked about how due to early season struggles, he had thought about retiring from the sport. The Mexican has been on the grid since 2011, and a key frontrunner in the last few years.

The struggle with Red Bull has been real though and in the interview, he opened up and admitted that he did for a moment think that maybe it would be for the best if he stepped away.

Explaining why he opted for that, Perez said,

"These last six months I thought about it, but it took me three seconds to make the decision. In the end, it would be the easy route, after so many years, to leave and in a way give up."

While Daniel Ricciardo's departure does make things easier for Perez to an extent, the arrival of Liam Lawson is primarily for a seat at Red Bull. If the Mexican's performances don't improve, he will lose his seat with the team.