Sergio Perez clarifies Red Bull contract clause and responds to Max Verstappen exit talk
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have been team-mates for four seasons now.
Sergio Perez said that while he cannot speak for Max Verstappen, his own contract does not include a Helmut Marko clause.
It was the Red Bull senior advisor himself who suggested that should he leave Red Bull then Verstappen would be free to do the same but how true that is is not something Perez knows anything about.
Sergio Perez clarifies his Red Bull deal
In the past few years, talk of Red Bull and contracts have been limited to Perez’s future but in the last few weeks Verstappen’s own deal has been thrust into the spotlight.
At the beginning of the month, Marko said he would not stand in Verstappen’s way should he want to leave but Perez has insisted his own future is not tied to anyone else’s.
“I don’t have that clause,” he told the media in Melbourne. “I don’t know what clause Max has in his contract. I think it’s best you ask him.
“I think Max, as far as I know, has a contract with the team and is fully committed with the team. The rest, I think it’s not for me to comment. It’s nothing to do with me. I’m focusing on my decisions, on what I have to do. And I think for us to be talking about other drivers when we don’t know any facts, I don’t see any point to do so.”
Perez was then asked how it might affect the team dynamics should Verstappen leave and the Mexican conceded it would be a “a blow” were the Dutchman to depart.
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“I think the team is in a very strong position because, I mean, with the results we’re currently having, the harmony that there is in the team, I think to achieve that it just takes a lot of years probably,” the 34-year-old said.
“And right now the dynamics, everyone in the team is working really well together.
“The whole engineering group is really united. And you can see that on track and how efficient we’ve been in the last year.
“So I think I don’t see any reason to change it and it will obviously be a blow for the team if Max were to leave.”
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