Red Bull is poised to announce that Sergio Perez is staying with the top Formula 1 team in 2025.
It emerged recently that the energy drink owned team, at which Max Verstappen is the obvious number 1 driver, was only offering Perez a one-year deal for 2025 - while the Mexican and his sponsors were pushing for longer.
"What’s interesting," reports Bild correspondent Michel Milewski, "is that (Carlos) Sainz is said to have had his eye on the Red Bull cockpit.
"But team boss Christian Horner declined to sign him."
Although Perez, 34, is often criticised for lagging behind Verstappen’s pace, the collaboration since 2021 has been highly successful - with Verstappen winning every drivers’ title since then and Red Bull securing all constructors’ championships since 2022.
Germany’s top daily newspaper Bild claims: "Perez and the Austrian team have agreed on a new contract.
"Nothing is official yet, but everything has been sorted out between the veteran and the energy drink team for several days. The final details were clarified before the Monaco GP."
Correspondent Milewski believes Perez’s deal is for one guaranteed season (2025) with a Red Bull-sided option for 2026. "A great solution for both parties," he said.
As for Verstappen, he has consistently denied speculation that he may be considering exiting his 2028 contract at the end of the year in order to switch to Mercedes.
"Can we stop talking about this yet? Absolutely not," former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher told formel1.de.
"I think Max will be looking for a better car, and that is not the Red Bull at the moment. It is simply a difficult car to drive and I think this could be a big problem."