MEXICO CITY (AP) — Sergio Perez climbed into his car for the Mexico City Grand Prix as nearly 155,000 fans at his home race shouted “Checo! Checo! Checo!" in adoration of the wildly popular Formula 1 driver.
It was a critical race for the slumping Perez — he said repeatedly all weekend it is his favorite event of the year — and he knows his job is in danger because of his lack of performance.
Alas, Perez could not deliver for his hopeful fans or for Red Bull Racing. After a 17th-place finish Sunday, team principal Christian Horner would not guarantee Perez will finish the season.
Horner had been emphatic two days earlier that the contract extension Perez signed earlier this year was valid for 2025. But he has performance clauses in his existing contract, and when The Associated Press asked Horner directly if Perez would finish this season, Horner refused to endorse the driver for the final four races.
“There comes a point in time that difficult decisions have to be made,” Horner said. “We’re now third in the constructors championship.”
Horner did say Perez would be in the car next weekend in Brazil.
Horner admitted the Mexican “had a horrible weekend” that started when he was eliminated in the first round of Saturday qualifying, relegating him to an 18th-place starting position. Perez was then outside his box at the start and received a five-second penalty.
He later got into a wheel-to-wheel battle with Liam Lawson of Red Bull sister team RB, and the contact caused damage that made Perez's car uncompetitive.
A win by Carlos Sainz moved Ferrari ahead of Red Bull for second in the lucrative constructor standings and the two-time reigning champions of the prize that pays an estimated $150 million is now a longshot to win it for the third consecutive year.
Red Bull's slip in that category is largely because of Perez's failures. He's eighth in the standings, winless on the year, and crashed out of three races.
“He knows Formula 1 is a results-based business, and you know, inevitably, when you’re not delivering, then the spotlight is firmly on,” Horner said. “When anyone is underperforming, there is always going to be scrutiny on that. You know, as a team, we need to have both (drivers) scoring points.”
Max Verstappen has scored 362 points this season; Perez has scored just 150.
“We’re working with him as hard as we can to try and support him," Horner said. "We’ve done everything that we can to support Checo, and we’ll continue to do so in Brazil next weekend. But there comes a point in time that you can only do so much.”
Perez, although disappointed with his weekend, didn't sound like a driver worried about his job.
“This has been a complicated weekend," he said. "I always say it’s my dream to win the grand prix in Mexico and I’ll try again next year. After all of the support from all of these fans, it’s incredible. They have given me so much, it’s all worth it for them. We’ll try again for them next year stronger.”
His future — or lack of one in F1 — could be a problem for the Mexico City race, which heads into the final year of its current contract seeking an extension. The race this weekend drew a record 404,958 spectators and was sold out for the ninth consecutive year.
But many of the fans who attend come to see Perez, and attendance could slip if he or another Mexican driver isn't on the F1 grid. Event president Alejandro Soberón said tickets for this weekend went on sale two weeks after Perez crashed out of last year's race seconds after it started and still sold out in two hours.
Tickets for 2025 will again go on sale in two weeks, and it is unclear if Perez's status for next year will be determined even though Horner had been adamant Friday he was under contract for 2025.
Soberon believes the race will have high demand.
“There’s very few races who have a local driver. Everybody of course would love to have a local driver, but the first year we did the race here 50% of the fans were in a red T-shirt, so Ferrari has a wonderful following here," he said. "We have no more capacity. We could have drawn 600,000 if we had unlimited capacity, we could have another 200,000 here, but we cannot put them.
“That’s why it sold out so fast in one year in advance. Probably without Checo maybe a drop of 20%, 25%, naturally, (but) still would be a sellout.”
Soberón also said the Mexico City Grand Prix is so unique — it embraces the Mexican culture and incorporates it in the paddock and throughout the venue — and is a destination race for F1 fans outside of the country. He noted that the event is a boon for the local economy, with everything from hotels, restaurants and transportation services fully booked all week.
“The Mexican crowd, the fandom, is very strong for F1 in general. Obviously, Checo is a great enhancement for this,” he said. "But Mexico has been very close to the heart of F1. We have a much better show on track today to what we had five years ago. I think competition and quality of the spectacle at the track is going to be enough to sustain the interest of the crowd, so we as a promoter of the race, we’re very excited trying to figure out a way to extend our (F1) contract regardless of Checo.
“We’re fairly optimistic that we’re going to have a race for many, many years."
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press
