Red Bull Racing have long-rumoured to be considering a change to its driver line-up in 2025, and the Formula 1 world continues to wait for such a decision to be made.
Sergio Pérez's future with the Milton Keynes-based constructor is uncertain at best, with reports of ongoing negotiation between his representatives and the team about compensation if he were to be let go from his contract.
Red Bull signed Pérez to a two-year contract, potentially a 1+1 based on performances, but the belief is that a new direction is needed to help the team get back into the Constructors' Championship conversation in 2025 - with Pérez's performances in 2024 identified as a key factor in the team finishing third behind McLaren and Ferrari.
While he has long stated he is under contract for next season and expects to be the team's second driver alongside four-time World Champion Max Verstappen, he sounded far less confident of his position at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last weekend.
When asked about his future with the team, he said: "Well, at the moment, I don't know. "I just know I've got a contract to race next year. Unless something changes in the coming days, that's going to be the situation for next year."
"I think at the moment, all I can say is I've got a contract, that I signed up in the middle of the year to race for the team for the next three years. So we'll see what happens and how the conversation goes in the coming days."
He added: "Like I say, we're going to be talking in a couple of days. We will discuss what is the situation for both parties and see if we're able to reach an agreement. Like I say, I've got a contract for next year."
Talk up and down the paddock and in the media since then has focused on who is likely to replace the 34-year-old should he find himself without a job next year.
The two most-discussed candidates, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, have been confirmed as the top two choices by Team Principal Christian Horner.
He explained: "I think Liam, in challenging circumstances, has done a very good job. If you analyse what he’s done in the time that he’s had and the race pace he’s had, I think he’s done a good job."
He added: "I think Yuki’s done a good job, so in the event that anything were decided with Checo they would be the candidates we would look towards."
It was believed that discussions with Pérez took place on Monday, but the two sides are currently in a stalemate over the next move. Pérez wants to be heavily compensated if he is to have his contract terminated, and he isn't willing to simply retire and walk off into the sunset as some had reported the team desired most.
Meanwhile, the team does not want to pay out such a huge sum to terminate his deal and it is now a case of the two sides coming to some sort of mutually beneficial agreement.
Some have reported that Red Bull would be open to having Pérez take on an ambassadorial role with the team, in the same vein as Daniel Ricciardo in 2023 before he returned to the grid, temporarily, with AlphaTauri/Visa Cash App RB.
Other moves have been happening that continue to indicate a separation between the two is still on the cards, as Isack Hadjar, this year's Formula 2 runner-up, looks set to take up a seat with Racing Bulls next season, with the implication being that either Lawson or Tsunoda is assured of taking the second Red Bull seat.
With Hadjar not returning to Campos Racing in F2 next season, it suggests his promotion is in place and it is simply a case of how/when the announcement is made - and how the situation with Pérez plays out.
Promoting Hadjar and one of Lawson or Tsunoda would see Red Bull sport a four-driver line-up comprised entirely of drivers that have progressed through their junior program - something that has not happened since 2020, when the team had Max Verstappen and Alex Albon at Red Bull while Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat drove for AlphaTauri.
Horner has previous mentioned there lack of urgency needed to announce any decisions, so it may still be some time before anything is confirmed, leaving the Formula 1 world continuing to wait for the final driver decisions to be made and solidify the starting grid for the 2025 season.
