ꦅThe short answer is, yes, at least on paper. Red Bull have repeatedly stressed that Perez’s seat is safe for 2024ꦑ, as per his contract, which expires at the end of next season. 

Add to that the confirmation that 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Daniel Ricciardo and 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Yuki Tsunoda will be stayin♓g put at AlphaTauri next year and it would appear, on the face of it at least, that Perez is going nowhere. 

But for all of the PR spin, it is common knowledge in the paddock that contracts mean very little in F1. Every driver ultimately has their price and there are usually all sorts of secret get-out and performance-related clauses inserted into deals. These are often deniedꦉ by teams who wish to keep🦩 such matters private. 

While Perez’s seat may not be under immediate threat, there is a feeling of inꦚevitability that the Mexican’s position will become precarious if he fails to get on top of his performances. 

Horner piling on the pressure 

Although Horner has continued to publicly𒁃 back Perez, even after his most inexplicable of weekends, he has also su🍬btly stoked up the pressure. 

In an interview with Sky Sports News in the days that followed Red Bull’s constructors’ championship coronation at Suzuka, Horner stated that McLaren’s 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lando Norris is one of “168澳洲5最新开奖结果:many” drivers his si💯de are keeping an eye on. 

Horner’s admission about Red Bull having “quite a bit of interest” in their seat alongside 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Max Verstappen for 202𓂃5 should set alarm bells ringing for Perez, if they weren’t already. 

"Now, being Max's team-mate is never going to be easy and some drivers may be up for that challenge, some may not be,” Horner added. “But, of course, as well as the drivers we have in-house 🥀we keep an eye on all the driver market.

"As you can imagine, 🀅there💞's quite a bit of interest from certain sectors about driving a Red Bull car.”

If Red Bull were completely happy with their current driver line-up, Horner surely wouldn’t be entertaining💛 such notions, and certainly not in such an open manner. 

Is it second place or bust? 

In the same interview, 🐽Horner interestingly placed heavy emphasis on Perez’s championship position. 

Following his miserable run of form, Perez has slipped 175 points adrift of his dominant teammate, while he now sits just 33 points clear of third-placed 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lewis Hamilton. 

Perez has never finished higher tha⭕n third in the drivers’ standings, while a 1-2 in theܫ same championship has so far evaded Red Bull despite all of their F1 success. 

"He's got at least a one race weekend sort of [poi𝓡nts] 'buffer' to Lewis and greater than that to Fernando💎 [Alonso] behind him,” Horner said. 

"It's something that we've never achieved; we've never ꦉfinished first and second𒅌 with any of our drivers in the world championship so it would be a big thing for us to achieve.

"He came close last year, it wouldꦐ be his best-ever result, and he's got the best car that he's ever had to be able to try and achieve that result.

"Japan was frustrating and difficult for him, but he'll bounce back. I'm sure there's enough races with the six grꦍands prix remaining for him sti🌼ll to achieve some great results between now and the end of the season.”

Even with the driverಞs’ crown set to be wrapped up by Verstappen next ti🍨me out in Qatar, Horner is making an effort to keep Perez on his toes so he remains motivated for the final six races.

2024 will be a defining year 

There is an argument that despite his struggles, Perez remains the perfect number two for Red Bull. He has, after all, helped the team secure back to back constructors’ championships and does not cause intra-team friction. Red Bull do not have the worry about their drivers running into each other like Mercedes did during the Hamilton-168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Nico Rosberg days. 

For now, Red Bull can cope with - and just about accept - Perez’s🌳 inconsistencies. Even if Perez was taken out of the equation, Verstappen would remarkably still be leading the constructors’ championship all by himself. 

Concerns will surely ramp up, however, if Red Bull ends up facing sterner competition from th🔴e likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren in 2024. 

In that situa🤪tion, Red Bull could ill afford to have only one driver on the podium at each race. In a more fiercely-fought title battle, Perez’s misdemeanours 🐽would prove more costly, and potentially result in Red Bull missing out on world championships.

Barring a disastrous end to the season, Perez will still be a Red Bull driver next year, at least to begin with. But his position may become untenable, especially if Ricciardo and Tsunoda excel at AlphaTauri. Red Bull also have their highly-rated reserve driver 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Liam Lawson waiting in the wings.

In a scenario in which Perez continues to underperform, not only would he be at risk of bei💜ng ousted for 2025, but he may not even see out the w♋hole season. 

The☂re is no doubt that 2024 will be a critical year in defining Perez’😼s F1 future.