Sergio Perez: Red Bull driver signs contract extension with Formula One team to 2024
Sergio Perez has extended his contract and will remain with Red Bull until 2024; "For us, holding onto his pace, race craft and experience was a no-brainer and we are delighted that Checo will continue to race for the team until 2024," said team boss Christian Horner in a statement
Tuesday 31 May 2022 16:37, UK
Sergio Perez has signed a two-year contract extension with Red Bull.
The Mexican driver, who won the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, has now committed to the team until the end of the 2024 season.
Perez, 32, is currently third in the drivers' world championship standings after finishing fourth last year.
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"For me, this has been an incredible week, winning the Monaco Grand Prix is a dream for any driver and then to follow that with announcing I will continue with the team until 2024 just makes me extremely happy," Perez said in a statement.
"I am so proud to be a member of this team and I feel completely at home here now. We are working very well together and my relationship with Max (Verstappen), on and off the track, is definitely helping drive us forward even more.
"We have built tremendous momentum as a team and this season is showing that, I am excited to see where that can take us all in the future."
Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner said: "Time and again he [Perez] has proved himself to not only be a magnificent team player but as his level of comfort has grown he has become a real force to be reckoned with at the sharp end of the grid.
"For us, holding onto his pace, race craft and experience was a no-brainer and we are delighted that Checo will continue to race for the team until 2024. In partnership with Max we believe we have a driver pairing that can bring us the biggest prizes in F1."
Jos Verstappen: Third place for Max is disappointing
Max Verstappen's dad, former racing driver Jos Verstappen was critical of Red Bull's strategy in Monaco following his son's third-placed finish.
In a column published on the Verstappen website, he said: "Red Bull achieved a good result, but at the same time exerted little influence to help Max to the front.
"That he finished third, he owes to Ferrari's mistake at that second stop of Charles Leclerc.
"The championship leader, Max, was not helped in that sense by the chosen strategy.
"It turned completely to Checo's favour. That was disappointing to me, and I would have liked it to be different for the championship leader."
Brundle: Perez is proof nice guys do win
In his latest column, Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle dissects the Monte Carlo drama - from the delayed start to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc meltdown and Sergio Perez's momentous win...
The good news from the Monaco Grand Prix is that nice people really do win.
Sergio Perez remains one of the most down to earth and approachable people in the paddock and I'm sure many F1 folk were ready to share a tear with him on the podium. Congratulations to him and Red Bull.
His last six races have included two fourth-place finishes, a trio of second places, and a glorious victory. If he hadn't been obliged to yield to his teammate Max Verstappen a week earlier in Barcelona, he would be just one point off the championship lead, although it must be said Max would likely have won on pure speed with fresher tyres had they been allowed to fight.
Eleven years ago, Sergio crashed in Monaco during qualifying and missed the race through concussion, which underlines well the 32-year-old's tenacity and continued speed, now with 220 GPs under his right foot. These new ground-effect aerodynamic 2022 cars clearly suit his driving style.
