The Mexican driver has had a disappointing run of races, which has included him getting knocked out of Q2 for the Austrian Grand Prix after falling foul of three separate track limits offences.
Ahead of an imminent run in an RB19 for Daniel Ricciardo after the British Grand Prix, where he will conduct Red Bull’s Pirelli tyre test, there have been inevitable suggestions that the Australian could put himself in contention for an F1 comeback.
This idea was further embellished when Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko told Austrian TV last week that it wanted to use the test to evaluate where Ricciardo ‘really stands’ amid questions about Perez’s form.
But Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has moved quickly to quell the idea that Perez is at risk of losing his seat.
Asked by Sky about the possibility of there being a vacant seat for Ricciardo at Red Bull next year, Horner said: “No, Checo is fixed. Everybody's fully behind [him]. So any talk about replacing Checo is wide of the mark.”
While Horner expressed some annoyance after qualifying at the Red Bull Ring about Perez taking unnecessary risks in Q2, he says that he is at least encouraged that his driver has shown some good speed.
“The most pressure he's under is the pressure he puts himself under,” said Horner. “Here he had the pace, and in practice one he was right there. The lap times he was doing, he was within a tenth of Max.
Source: Autosport