Sergio Perez insists that he will be racing for Red Bull in Formula 1 next season, despite speculation he could be axed after a team meeting on Monday.
The Mexican has had a challenging second half of the season, with his best result being sixth place in the Dutch Grand Prix straight after the summer break.
But a major drop in pace in recent races, allied to stand-out moments like his slow getaway from the pits in the Qatar GP sprint race and a spin behind the safety car in the main race, has led to questions over his future.
Red Bull chiefs are due to meet on the Monday after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to decide on their driver line-up for 2025, and there are growing suspicions that the squad wants to replace Perez with one of RB’s current line-up of Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda.
Speaking after Qatar, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner suggested that Perez was fully aware of where things were.
“It's not an enjoyable situation for Checo being in this position with speculation every week,” he said. “He's old enough and wise enough to know what the situation is and let's see where we are after Abu Dhabi."
However, the situation is not so straightforward because Perez has a contract in place as part of a deal that was reached earlier in the year.
And while there are understood to be break clauses in the deal, there will still likely need to be some form of commercial agreement reached for their partnership to end.
But Perez appeared defiant ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Thursday as he made clear he sees his future at Red Bull.
“Nothing has changed since before in terms of what I've said for the entire year,” he said. “I got a contract for next year and I will be driving for Red Bull next year.”
Asked if he was 100% sure that would be the case, Perez replied: “I already said mate, nothing further to add. I have a contract for next year so nothing further to add.”
Perez said that he was aware of the rumours that his place was under threat in Monday’s meeting, but reckoned the situation was unchanged within the team.
“To be honest I haven't been much into it for sure. I have seen the rumours but nothing different to the last couple of months.
“In that regard nothing further to add. I already said it in the last six months, that I'm here. I renewed with the team earlier in the year and I'm here to be the driver for the team next year and it's where my full focus is.”
Asked if he felt he still had the full support of Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, Perez said: “I think it's just important to stay in it together because, like I said, the season hasn't been the greatest.
“But, at the end of the day, there's a reason why they renewed me, and they know that I still can do it and that's an important factor.”
While the results have not been promising recently, Perez feels that things have started to feel better in the car and that has led to an increase in confidence.
“I mean, I think it's been coming for a while,” he said. “There's been a lot of signs in the last few races, but for some reason or another one we can't just not get it all in one.
“So I will really keep pushing for this final race to really try to finish the season on a high because at the end of the day, it's always nice to go home with a good result.”
