Daniel Ricciardo: Sergio Perez speaks about decision that gave Christian Horner no choice but to sack Aussie

Under-siege Red Bull driver Sergio Perez has spoken about his decision to stay with Red Bull on an extended contract that ultimately ended the career of Daniel Ricciardo.

Perez has been spiralling in the season standings with poor performances at his home grand prix in Mexico and the latest outing in Brazil, and Red Bull boss Christian Horner is seemingly growing impatient as RBR slide down the constructor’s championship leaderboard.

The Mexican superstar has been forced to defend his decision to stay with Red Bull, and his contract for the 2025 season, by saying he knocked back multiple offers from rival clubs to stay as Max Verstappen’s teammate in the team’s top-flight outfit.

“I had an opportunity, two opportunities, to change teams,” Perez told GQ magazine.

“When I looked at it, I thought, I love the challenge I have at Red Bull.

“It’s a massive challenge being Max’s teammate. It’s a challenge that trains you for all of it.

“So, I said I want to spend my last part of my career at the top, at the very top, where the pressure, it’s full-on,” Perez said.

Perez, 34, is well aware of the permutations of his contract decisions and the flow-on effect that they have on other drivers.

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo was forced out of the RBR team soon after Perez extended his stay with Christian Horner desperate to breathe some young blood into the team and subsequently signed Kiwi young gun Liam Lawson.

Five does not go into four and given Ricciardo was the oldest second-tier driver his days were indeed numbered.

However, as Max Verstappen inches toward a fourth consecutive drivers’ championship, the team has dropped to third in the constructor standings with Perez recording only 48 points in the past 15 races.

Horner has been open in recent weeks about Perez’s chances of surviving into next season and reportedly told the RBR team that he was ‘safe’ for the moment, but all things would be assessed post-season.

With over $US150 million on the one for the constructor’s championship, the axe may fall sooner rather than later as multiple names have been tied to various rumours, including young drivers Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto, however Horner knows Ricciardo would slot back in at a moments notice if necessary.

Perez, a six-time F1 race winner, said he isn’t bothered by the rumours, which come with being an F1 driver.

“It’s how the sport is. You have one, two bad races, a lot of negative talk about you and so on,” Perez told GQ.

“But it’s also something in the culture of the team as well — with Red Bull. The surrounding talk, the contract talks and so on. It’s just part of the game.”

“At the end of the day, when you go through a difficult period, there is a lot of talk,” Perez added.

“But ultimately, there is 90 per cent of the grid who would have loved to have my career.

“When you are a driver, you only think about the next race — the next challenge, the next category, the next contract. It’s always about next, next, next.

“Sometimes it’s good to step back out of it and remember how far you’ve gone. It’s a very brutal sport.”