Not only did the Red Bull Team Principal say in the official announcement that “Now is an important time to confirm our line-up for 2025,” but his further comments to Viaplay clarified the nature of the contract.
“Well, 1+1=2, so it’s a two-year contract,” Horner said.
“As with any contract, there’s a lot in it, but that’s, of course, between the driver and the team.”
With Perez’s extension coming amid a bad run of form, which continued post-announcement with a Q1 exit and DNF in Canada, he must turn his fortunes around to ensure his 2026 season in Red Bull colours comes to fruition.
tl;dr: he’s on a 1+1 contract.
A lot of words to just say that.
So does that mean they can kick him out after the first year if he doesn’t get his shit together?
Yes. I think they’re keeping him around because he doesn’t get in Max’s way, but he’s going to start costing the team a lot of points if he’s this consistently bad.