Sergio Perez's future is looking increasingly uncertain after Christian Horner commented on his shocking performance at the Mexican Grand Prix.
The Mexican endured a miserable weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, crashing out early in qualifying on Saturday and finishing last of the running cars in Sunday's grand prix.
Despite looking to have made a good start to his race and recovered from Saturday's setback, it quickly transpired that he had in fact made a false start, with the FIA penalizing him as a result.
As a result of Perez’s inconsistency in 2024, Ferrari have surpassed Red Bull in the constructors’ championship with the British-based outfit now sitting in a worrying third place.
Whilst the 34-year-old believes he will be on the grid in 2025, and even suggested he had a chance of fighting for a victory at next year’s home race, VCARB driver Liam Lawson is already being linked as Max Verstappen's team-mate for next year.
Speaking after the Mexican GP, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner cast huge doubt over Perez’s future after describing his weekend as ‘horrible’.
"Look, it's a performance-based business. There comes a point in time that difficult decisions have to be made,” Horner said when asked if Perez has a Red Bull future.
"Checo, again, has had a horrible weekend. Nothing has gone right for him. He knows F1 is a results-based business," Horner said separately to Sky Sports.
"Inevitably, when you're not delivering, then the spotlight is firmly on you."
The above comments put huge pressure on Perez to finish the 2024 campaign strongly. More underwhelming performances could see the Mexican lose his place within the team, despite being contracted for 2025 already.