Fernando Alonso to Red Bull has been the latest rumor out of the F1 paddock. However, Christian Horner has dismissed these rumors and has guaranteed Sergio Perez as their driver until the end of the 2024 season.
When the season first started, Sergio Perez was considered to be a Championship contender. However, his pace fell off since the Monaco Grand Prix very early on in the season. This has allowed Max Verstappen to win the Championship while building over a 250-point gap with his teammate.
Perez’s performance has also allowed Lewis Hamilton to challenge the Mexican driver for 2nd place in the Championship. Hamilton is now only 20 points behind Perez with 3 races to go. If Sergio Perez fails to finish on the podium in the remaining 3 races, it could allow Lewis to take 2nd place in the Championship. Christian Horner recently gave a statement regarding Perez’s 2024 seat.
“Nothing surprises me these days. There are so many rumors in the paddock that almost anyone is compared to our car. However, I can guarantee that Fernando will not drive with us next year.”
Horner: “He obviously has a contract and we have never discussed the possibility of him driving for us. Checo is going through a difficult time, but the whole team supports him. We know what he is capable of and he will be our driver in 2024.”
FormulaPassion
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) November 3, 2023
For the last few weeks, there have been a number of rumors surrounding Sergio Perez. It was first speculated that Daniel Ricciardo will replace Perez midway through the 2024 season.
Later, the rumor was that Perez was given an ultimatum. If he loses 2nd position in the Championship, he will lose his seat to Daniel Ricciardo for next season. In the middle of everything, there was also a rumor that Sergio Perez would announce his retirement during the Mexican Grand Prix.
However, all these rumors have been put to rest by Christian Horner who has guaranteed Sergio Perez his seat until his contract with Red Bull expires.
Fernando Alonso issues warning to F1 journalists
After the rumors of Fernando Alonso to Red Bull began, Helmut Marko was asked about it. After guaranteeing Perez’s seat for 2024, he said that the rumor were probably started by Fernando Alonso using his home media. But when Alonso was asked about the same, he said:
“Nothing to say, they’re just rumors. Normal paddock rumours. They’re just people who want to gain followers, who just want to have fun. And I don’t think it’s fun when they ‘play’ about these things. I’ll make sure there are consequences.”
Fernando Alonso says he will make sure there are consequences for the stirring of Aston-Red Bull rumours 😳https://t.co/sYKnwBsw8m
— WTF1 (@wtf1official) November 2, 2023
Both Red Bull and Fernando Alonso have made it clear that the rumors are nothing if not baseless. From the looks of things, Sergio Perez will drive for Red Bull until the end of the 2024 season. This will give the Mexican driver with one more chance to challenge Max Verstappen for the Championship. However, there could be other teams in play for the Championship.
McLaren and Mercedes have been making some decent progress for the last few months. For the last couple of races, Max Verstappen has not been able to get pole position. Charles leclerc took pole at the Mexico City Grand Prix and the US Grand Prix. For the Brazil Sprint Race, Lando Norris was able to beat both Red Bulls for the Sprint Pole. It would be interesting to see if Lando can convert that into his first race win.