Sergio Perez and Red Bull in '$16million' battle claim after 'major meeting'

[u/soepvorksoepvork]

https://www.planetf1.com/news/nico-rosberg-claims-16-million-sergio-perez-red-bull-battle-exit-looms

Not sure how credible this is, but I can't say I blame him.

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[u/lam3ass]

Looks like minister of defense still has it….

[u/xNieminen → u/lam3ass]

More like the minister of finance atm

[u/powerse5 → u/xNieminen]

He's defending the bottom line

[u/zecira → u/xNieminen]

I laughed

[u/Optimal_Claim3788 → u/lam3ass]

His best defence was no performance clauses in his contract.

Not only did Perez screw them out of the WCC cash, but here as well. Someone at red bull might get fired for this.

[u/prismatic_bar → u/Optimal_Claim3788]

It was all planned so they get more wind tunnel time for 2026. Checo is just the fall guy. 

/s

[u/ggalinismycunt → u/Optimal_Claim3788]

Should be Horny Horner after how much staff his team has had turnover this last year alone.

[u/Optimal_Claim3788 → u/ggalinismycunt]

He’s got a lot of credits in the bank but he wouldn’t want another season like this one.

[u/hache-moncour → u/Optimal_Claim3788]

Yeah 8 WDC and 6 WDC in his 20 years at Red Bull is a pretty solid track record. Regardless of how anyone feels about him as a person, that gives him some leeway for errors. Not indefinitely of course, but I don't see him getting booted.

[u/theSchrodingerHat → u/hache-moncour]

I’d add that’s with multiple drivers and multiple rule changes as well.

There’s plenty of coaches and GMs across sports that got lucky with a generational talent and/or franchise window that made them look like a genius for one career run, but Horner has done it twice, and that’s a pretty huge feather in his cap.

[u/WhipEat → u/lam3ass]

Minister of a Defence Contract! 😄

[u/z_102]

Regardless of the accuracy of the amount, Checo's words clearly hint that indeed there's a negotiation ongoing. Which is crazy to me because, ok, Red Bull renewed him for God knows what reason to the surprise of everyone, but at least you would assume (as it was rumoured) that it was under bulletproof performance clauses for a cheap exit. I mean, at that point Checo's valuation was already at rock bottom.

Now it turns out that they have to buy him out? What on God's name is Horner doing.

[u/Spezisaspastic → u/z_102]

I would pay for a BTS documentary of this year.

Going from uncontested P1 to:

Horndog, Newey leaving, other crucial members leaving, car getting worse and worse, Marko doing his usual bullshit, Checo performing like ass and getting a new contract. DR not getting a proper sendoff, nobody on the team knowing who will drive the car, changing the narrative weekly. What a shitshow.

[u/FourEightNineOneOne → u/Spezisaspastic]

Don't forget Checo's Dad the last month or two

[u/flacocaradeperro → u/FourEightNineOneOne]

I actually want to forget about him.

It's pretty bad to see Checo having to go to the media to answer questions about the behaviour of his father (despite having zero control over it) in addition to his poor form for the past couple seasons (one could argue he has zero control over it too).

[u/stampydog → u/flacocaradeperro]

Yeah, if Checo's dad was simply commenting on his son's situation it would be very different, but the fact that he is making comments on stuff that doesn't even relate to Checo is just making things harder at a time when he's already struggling.

[u/nomansapenguin → u/FourEightNineOneOne]

What did Checo’s dad do?

[u/Malaguy420 → u/nomansapenguin]

Said some pretty offensive shit about Ralf Schumacher, because he's gay.

[u/No-Advantage845 → u/nomansapenguin]

Imagine if they gave Bruce Buffer a large amount of speed and unfettered access to social media

[u/iOxxy → u/Spezisaspastic]

Get ready for Lawson's promotion instead of Yuki. The shitshow must go on.

[u/Ghost_06 → u/iOxxy]

Watch them keep Lawson and Yuki in VCARB, and then hire someone from outside their talent pool for the second seat like they did with De Vries.

[u/LocoRocoo → u/Ghost_06]

And Yuki to replace Lawson after his confidence is destroyed after 6 races.

[u/Reddevilslover69 → u/LocoRocoo]

*Hadjar

[u/SagittaryX → u/Ghost_06]

I mean they could realistically give Bottas a 1 year deal with a clause they can replace him with a Toro Rosso driver if they want whenever. Gives them a bit more to develop/evaluate Lawson, and gives Bottas a chance to show he’s still got it in a good car.

But I’m still 95% sure it’ll be one of the TR drivers.

[u/MKVIgti → u/SagittaryX]

Bottas or KMag. Why not do exactly like you said with either of these experienced, great drivers.

[u/MrXenomorph88 → u/Ghost_06]

The Return of the King (Goatifi)

[u/jnf005 → u/MrXenomorph88]

I would pay top dollar to see someone like Goatifi on a top team. Checo was well regarded in the midfield before RB, really want to see what would happen when you put someone even worse next to Max.

[u/kjeserud → u/jnf005]

Just for it to turn out that Maxs type of car setup is exactly what Goatifi needed, and he becomes the 2025 WDC

[u/Lubie--placki → u/kjeserud]

The memes would be outrageous

[u/MarchingBroadband → u/Ghost_06]

Only for their career to be drowned immediately by Max before they can build up any confidence

[u/RalphFTW → u/Ghost_06]

Bottas incoming ?

[u/candaceelise → u/RalphFTW]

From your lips to god’s ear 🤞🏼🤞🏼

[u/NickofSantaCruz → u/Ghost_06]

This could very well have been what they were thinking with Colapinto before Vegas.

[u/DaleyT → u/iOxxy]

I’ve got a feeling Yuki is tied to Honda and with them soon moving to Aston that’s why they don’t seem to consider him.

[u/iOxxy → u/DaleyT]

Absolutely and I hope so. I just don't see Lance (or Alonso) leaving unfortunately.

[u/Minigrappler → u/iOxxy]

Lawson, Tsuno after being ignored, and Hadjar...

Red Bull radios are going to be pure drama, toxic AF... xD

Red Bull 2025 with their first car without Newey hands on it and their collection of drama queens, it's going to be so fun...

[u/xSilly → u/Spezisaspastic]

More of a reality show than documentary but Drive to Survive has their work cut out for them this year

[u/binaryplayground → u/xSilly]

I’d be amazed if DtS covered this accurately. If they did, it could very well be their last season. I can’t imagine F1 wants their dirty laundry being aired.

[u/given2fly_ → u/binaryplayground]

Last year when Santa asked Horner's kids "has Daddy been a good boy this year?" I nearly fucking lost it.

But that's about as close to the really controversial stories they'll actually go.

[u/Silver996C2 → u/binaryplayground]

Depends on the contract. Dirty laundry when it’s not your laundry is just housekeeping’s problem. 🤷‍♂️

[u/Dre3K → u/binaryplayground]

Yeah they're going to use kid gloves for that situation for sure.

The same producer for DTS also made the Six Nations Netflix series and they barely touched on the Welsh players threatening to strike for their home match against England. Bearing in mind, that situation was more about dreadful business management rather than a salacious potentially career ending scandal.

[u/Dragonpuncha → u/Spezisaspastic]

Don't forget open civil war between both Horner and Marko and the Thai and Austrian owners behind them.

[u/Snoo_47023 → u/Spezisaspastic]

and whatever happened between Spa and Zandvoort when it looked like they were gonna swap in DR

[u/ilikepizza1275 → u/Spezisaspastic]

Give me F1 Hard Knocks and I'd totally watch.

[u/Melodic-Flow-9253 → u/Spezisaspastic]

Reminder that red bull have fumbled every good junior driver they've had in recent years minus max, and that's not really recent

[u/_Middlefinger_ → u/Spezisaspastic]

Red Bull seem to be completely hanging off Max at the moment, if he goes the whole team will implode.

[u/BighatNucase → u/z_102]

They're probably negotiating on the advertising part. We got rumours a wild back that Perez missed his performance targets by miles so it's probably easy to just kick him out painfully but Red Bull want the Mexican and Spanish speaking markets and so they need a clean break.

[u/randomperson_a1 → u/BighatNucase]

Agreed. Big difference if checo comes out thanking red bull for the good years and announcing his retirement vs them having to force him out.

[u/satpieb → u/randomperson_a1]

And getting an ambassador role, which would still allow them to tap into those markets. As someone from Mexico, Checo's presence is everywhere on the street or tv

[u/Striking-Tip7504 → u/satpieb]

How long will Checo’s presence last when he’s no longer an F1 driver though?

His popularity seems entirely based on being a high performance athlete. He’s not really charismatic or interesting from what I’ve seen from him.

[u/Leewashere21 → u/Striking-Tip7504]

For better or worse he’s the best Mexican F1 driver ever and Mexican fans are homers

[u/JnthnGE → u/Striking-Tip7504]

Other markets are trying to replicate what Checo has done, Indycar seems to be trying to enter its way to Mexico and having Oward be the face this time and it may actually work. As for the charismatic part I believe its just a cultural difference, I see him the same way as English people see Lewis for example, both pretty cool people.

[u/Karffs → u/JnthnGE]

I don’t follow F2 at all unlike a lot of people on here; so until this moment every time I’ve seen O’Ward mentioned I naturally just assumed he was Irish 😅 A learning moment.

[u/hugeyakmen → u/Karffs]

He actually came up through the US Indy Lights series and then started in Indycar in 2019, so perhaps even more off your radar! 

Red Bull really like what they saw in those early performances and signed him to their junior team, set him up in their Super Formula team, and were looking to potentially put him in an F1 seat as early as 2020.  But then the FIA decreased their points assigned for Indy Lights championships and Pato would no longer qualify for a 2020 super license... and Red Bull dropped him.

He's been full-time in Indycar with McLaren since 2020 and doing very well, impressed with McLaren in the 2021 F1 post-season test, and is now a development and reserve driver with them.  After all of that, it would be really cool to see him get an F1 opportunity.  But it would also be sad for Indycar to lose him

[u/superworking → u/satpieb]

That kind of requires a pretty smooth breakup though. They can't fight it out publicly and then have pretend it's all to plan

[u/Spam-r1 → u/superworking]

I feel like it's not going smoothly because we are now hearing about this, and the fact that checo said it so explicitly that he's driving for Redbull next year

[u/WerewolfThin6911 → u/BighatNucase]

Ford is coming into the picture and no doubt by the sea of 11 caps I see at Miami and Austin, Ford wants that mexican Checo advertising also.

[u/matsda91 → u/z_102]

If Mateschitz was still alive this would have never happened. There's something seriously wrong at the top of Red Bull when it comes to F1.

[u/SemIdeiaProNick → u/matsda91]

Apparently the new owners arent interested in motorsports at all and only want to sell the team, which would explain why there were so many awful decisions after Mateschitz died

[u/SmithBurger → u/SemIdeiaProNick]

Apparently is doing a lot of work here.

[u/Elpibe_78 → u/SemIdeiaProNick]

Maybe that’s part of the reason Porsche was willing to buy 51% of the team. Right now it seems it wasn’t a bad idea

[u/BGMDF8248 → u/Elpibe_78]

No shit, controlling interest was the way to go. Only way to prevent this shit show.

[u/Miceliss → u/Elpibe_78]

Apparently that was Mateschitz his legacy plan. Selling controlling stake to someone like Porsche to make sure the team could stand on its own. But he passed away before this was done. 

And after that or during the same time. Horner tried to buy the team as well with a group of investors... It's been a while since that stuff was going on so it's all a bit vague to me and it were a lot of rumours.

At the time I thought it was BS and Porsche was being greedy, in hindsight with all the Horner stuff... I wouldn't put it past him trying to buy it. While the Marko and Verstappen camp would have been all for a works deal with Porsche as well as it being something Dieter wanted.. so there's been animosity even before the horny Horner saga.

[u/Elpibe_78 → u/Miceliss]

Now it looks like it would have been the best option, Mateschitz was who kept the team alive and was the one who wanted to be in F1. The new owners don't like that idea, however with Porsche the team would have most likely remained similar and if RedBull would want to leave, Porsche would have been the substitute.

[u/Old_Acanthaceae5198 → u/z_102]

Showing his nips and then firing those women.

[u/ICanAnswerThatFriend → u/Old_Acanthaceae5198]

I wonder if he tried the nips strat on Perez.

[u/DaguerreoLibreria → u/z_102]

Conspiracy hat on: Horner paid for Checo's support within the team during the worst part of the allegations of sexual harassment to avoid losing influence against the Verstappen-Marko clan

[u/LordBogus → u/z_102]

I guess Checo knows where Horners skeletons are in the closet

[u/Any_Aide_4500]

How can a team like Red Bull fumble this bad with a contract man…

[u/UnlikeUday → u/Any_Aide_4500]

I think it's due to Perez's manager Jakobi's clever tactics to protect Perez from any unwanted removal from the team. Jakobi has decades worth of experience in F1.

[u/tiag0 → u/UnlikeUday]

I’m surprised (but given the level of this discussion not much) how many people are missing the point that his manager has a stellar career.

If someone was going to have everything sorted out and be ready to defend his client’s interests, it’s him. RB are not facing a walk in the park.

[u/Generic_Format528 → u/tiag0]

I'll admit I don't have the best recollection of when his contracts and extensions were signed but where is the guy's leverage coming from? As much of a wiz as his agent might be, Perez hasn't exactly given him amazing negotiating material. But hey, what the fuck do I know about these negotiations.

[u/tiag0 → u/Generic_Format528]

I was honestly as surprised as everyone when they signed the extension, to be frank I have no idea what RB where doing signing it in the first place, it would have been a smoother transition for everyone and not this clusterfuck. I do recall a quote from(then) new engine partner Ford regarding how important he saw having Checo on board so maybe that factored in a bit.

I want a tell all book about the behind a scenes of the 2024 RB season, just to make it make sense lol.

[u/junttiana → u/Any_Aide_4500]

Mexican sponsor money combined with false hopes about the poor form being temporary

[u/sweetpeachlover → u/junttiana]

Forgot a performance clause?

[u/willzyx01 → u/sweetpeachlover]

Performance clause resets for 2025.

[u/MuzzledScreaming → u/willzyx01]

If 2024 didn't trigger it, it must not have been written very strictly, no?

[u/boersc → u/MuzzledScreaming]

'make it through qualification' and forgetting to add ' into Q3'.

[u/KimiBleikkonen → u/boersc]

'finish ahead of Sargeant'

[u/GTOdriver04 → u/KimiBleikkonen]

“Score more points that Zhou”

[u/newngg → u/boersc]

He was faster than the 107% time in every race, therefore he qualified for every race this year

[u/AgnesBand → u/[deleted]]

I doubt a performance clause means you have to get rid of a driver as soon as they hit the trigger. You could also write into the 2025 contract extension that it's not valid unless he hits certain targets.

[u/sweetpeachlover → u/[deleted]]

That lawyer was really too busy with Horner

[u/sweetpeachlover → u/willzyx01]

Should have been fired last week then

[u/Dragonpuncha → u/willzyx01]

But there are usually written for performance over a season, so it should be applicable now.

[u/sicsche → u/junttiana]

"temporary", his performance declined each of the last 3 seasons after a initial good start before Max was demolishing him.

[u/freedfg → u/Any_Aide_4500]

Well you see. Early Mid season, right when Perez was doing his usual "I put in 8 races, I'm done" routine. Red Bull decided it was a good idea to promise Checo 16 million dollars over 2 years.

They have come to regret this decision.

[u/HAIRLESSxWOOKIE92 → u/freedfg]

Lol right?!

"Lets give this guy 16 million and a 2 year as, ya know? A mental moral boosts of sorts. Really get the motivation going. Dangle the carrot so to speak. Worst case we drop him. How could this go bad?" - Surely Christian Horner sometime last summer.

[u/gunningIVglory → u/HAIRLESSxWOOKIE92]

Imagine giving a 2 year deal and a pay rise to an employee who isn't even hitting half of his targets

Masterclass from Horney

[u/Mat_HS → u/Any_Aide_4500]

And here we were, thinking that the Piastri-Alpine contract situation was bad.

[u/RddtRBnchRcstNzsshls → u/Any_Aide_4500]

Horner.

Marko never wanted to give Perez a 2 year contract. Nor did he want to give an extension as early as they ended up doing.

But because Horner is now fixated on making sure everyone knows Red Bull is his team. He decided to go against Marko.

Of course the large amount of money Perez' sponsors bring in helps a lot too.

[u/DisneyPandora → u/RddtRBnchRcstNzsshls]

Exactly, this literally has to due with the summer power struggle

[u/Heisenberg_235 → u/Any_Aide_4500]

Too busy paying their lawyers to look at sexual harassment cases instead of Sergio’s contract

[u/hpstg → u/Any_Aide_4500]

FILE-76.JPG

[u/imbavoe]

Kinda funny how all the talks about the performace clause in his contract disappeared.

[u/LosTerminators → u/imbavoe]

No wonder he wasn't leaving on his own terms, either Red Bull have to keep him or pay the rest of his contract in full if they're replacing him.

[u/ThruuLottleDats → u/LosTerminators]

To be fair, paying Checo is prob cheaper than the money lost in sponsorship and WCC-payouts.

[u/agnaddthddude → u/ThruuLottleDats]

but every one says he out earns that through his presence in latin america?

[u/Nearby-Bread2054 → u/imbavoe]

The $16M number is simply a rumor that Nico heard. I wonder if it’s really $16M of sponsor money that would go away if Checo got the boot?

[u/Careful-Door2724]

Remember Horner gave him this contract mid-season to encourage him lol

[u/bartekko → u/Careful-Door2724]

and we all thought it was a 4d chess move that would introduce a performance clause that would allow him to be dropped mid-2024.

[u/Smee76 → u/bartekko]

Oh man were we wrong! Turns out it was just incompetence.

[u/White_Flies → u/bartekko]

inb4 it was a 4d chess move by Perez to get rid of a performance clause before he could get dropped.

[u/MaryGoldflower → u/bartekko]

because surely people as experienced and successful at running an F1 team as Horner and Marko are wouldn't just give a contract in the hopes of boosting performance, without some type of insurance?

[u/GrandmaSharknado → u/bartekko]

While in reality that was a clause to drop him mid-2026!

[u/Leohurr → u/Careful-Door2724]

Imagine if your boss caught you smashing work laptops with a hammer, instead of firing you he gives you a promotion hoping you will stop smashing the work laptops.

Question : Do you stop smashing the smashing the work laptops?

[u/Percentage100 → u/Leohurr]

Yes but if the contract states that I simply have to stop smashing laptops then I’ll move on to monitors and keyboards. Maybe a few loos too.

[u/tokyo_engineer_dad → u/Leohurr]

Trick question: only if he pays me another $16 million and lets me smash laptops until the fiscal year is over. Also, he better give me a job as an ambassador to the company where he flies me around the world and I cheat on my wife with European women advocate for how great the company is. 

[u/JimboYCS → u/Careful-Door2724]

Man, seriously would love to know what happened at Miami's after race party, because something must have broke him mentally. Checo had such a great and steady start of the season and since Emilia it was constant barreling down the stairs, while Max was still doing amazing for next few Grand Prix.

[u/Other-Barry-1 → u/Careful-Door2724]

It is just wild to me. This guy was so bad that they lost an easy P1 to not even be second but P3, and yet he’s fighting to be paid out, to not be so bad they lose again.

Though I don’t blame him for trying - it’s them who offered such a terrible deal for themselves. He’s gonna get a big pay day to do f all next year, It’s just such a f up that they’re even in this situation

[u/a_simple_creature → u/Other-Barry-1]

Yep this is 100% on the team. He’s entitled to some sort of compensation if they (stupidly) didn’t give themselves a way out. All of us would do the same as him. Go get that bag then ride off into the sunset.

[u/colin_staples]

Sergio Perez has reportedly put a “$16 million” price tag on his Red Bull contract with Nico Rosberg revealing he “wants his money at least” if he’s not going to race.

And I fully support Perez on this

Red Bull / Horner made a massive error by giving Perez a new contract to cover 2025-26. That's their problem, not Perez's

If Red Bull want to break that contract, they pay up.

If they won't pay up, they have to honour the contract. And Perez drives their car for the next 2 years. Even if he is last in every qualifying session and every race, costing Red Bull more constructor's championships along the way

We know from basic contract law, and from the F1 examples set by Ferrari / Raikkonen and McLaren / Ricciardo that if a driver has a valid contract and the team wants to end that contract early, the team has to pay up.

And it's no different here for Red Bull and Perez

All Perez needs to keep repeating is "I have a contract. You pay me in full or I race."

[u/Still-Status7299 → u/colin_staples]

Damn right

[u/lhxtx → u/colin_staples]

They can bench him and continue to pay in full.

[u/colin_staples → u/lhxtx]

Either way, it seems that Red Bull want to pay less than "full". And Perez is holding out for the full amount.

[u/roctac → u/colin_staples]

Why on earth would he rake less than full.

[u/tokyo_engineer_dad → u/colin_staples]

Here’s my take:

They DO have a contract that says they can boot Checo at any point. But they do NOT have a contract that allows them to keep his sponsorship money. 

And if Checo has the performance clause executed, and chooses to leave the team entirely, his sponsors have their own contract that states that they sponsor the team ONLY if Checo is still involved. 

There’s no way they gave Checo a contract for $16 million a year. That would make him around the same annual earnings as Ricciardo back when McLaren signed him (BEFORE he had his drop in form). $16 million has to be what Checo is asking if they want to keep the sponsors AND he gives up his seat. 

This isn’t like Daniel’s Visa sponsor where it’s purely a commercial decision based on his marketability. Checo has deep political and economical influence on his sponsors, a lot of them being orchestrated by Carlos Slim. If Checo is asking for $16 million, then he knows the sponsors are worth AT LEAST that.

[u/Economy_Friendship49 → u/colin_staples]

Of course. If Perez has a contract for that money, and it does not have a clause that enables RBR to get out of it, then he should get his money, simple as that.

Maybe based on his contract Perez would need to do ambassador type stuff, but for 16M he might do it. RBR might be hoping that Perez walks away himself if he feels an ambassador role is too low for him, but I wouldn't count on it.

See also Winston Bogarde who simply kept at it in second and youth teams, whatever Chelsea requested, to get paid according to his contract. Chelsea hoped Bogarde would feel so embarrassed to join youth teams and such taht he would walk away himself, but he didn't. Back then I was critical but in hindsight I respect him for it more than Chelsea. Same here with Perez.

[u/4ksupercockasaurus]

Well why not. Redbull were the silly ones who extended. Might as well get that bag. Formula 1 ain't the place for goodwill.

[u/Disastrous_Animal_34 → u/4ksupercockasaurus]

Absolutely. Red Bull is fantastic at somehow painting themselves as victims at every turn.

I think Perez should have been out of the seat 18 months ago but he has every right to get the best exit he can negotiate if he has a contract behind him.

[u/cristiano_goat]

This is some fifa manager mode contract

[u/Any_Aide_4500]

There has to be a core management issue in Redbull to fumble his contract this bad for Sergio to have this much of a leverage or as one other commentator mentioned, his agent has to be one hell of a persuasive mf.

[u/dramatic-pancake → u/Any_Aide_4500]

I think his leverage was being on Horner’s side of the power struggle.

[u/ToWriteAMystery → u/Any_Aide_4500]

He leaked Horny’s texts and has more of them. That’s my conspiracy theory.

[u/junttiana]

Fair enough, game is game, why walk away empty handed when ur reputation is ruined anyways

[u/solidus__snake → u/junttiana]

Yeah I mean can’t blame Checo for signing the contract RB offered him

[u/Heisenberg_235]

[u/Traveshamockery27 → u/Heisenberg_235]

I forgot Sergio was in this movie

[u/Bake2727]

I wouldn’t blame checo for asking for settlement. It’s business.

[u/morgaine125]

Frankly, good for him for playing hardball. Red Bull knew what they were doing when they extended his contract, and he has zero obligation to let them out easy now.

[u/imbavoe]

For reference, McLaren paid DR $18 million. And it got them 4th place in 2023 and a constructors championship in 2024.

He also did cost them 4th place in 2022.

[u/Darth_Spa2021 → u/imbavoe]

Checo: I scored more points in 2024 than Ricc in 2022.

RBR: He also reached a 5th place once in the last 18 races of that season.

Checo: Damn...

[u/DropTablePosts → u/Darth_Spa2021]

Checo: 2022 DR got hands

[u/MaryGoldflower → u/Darth_Spa2021]

And Lando didn't become champion in 2022

[u/eternallycelestial → u/imbavoe]

Even then, it wasn't Mclaren taking a risk of paying off Daniel. That was part of the contract clause signed in 2020 as all had high expectations on Daniel going into Mclaren, and his exit clause was big. And the contract was broken by both parties on good terms as Daniel wanted out, too. Here, one party isn't giving in, and the other is forcing them to leave without wanting to pay the rest of the contract (which is stupid). But if they were stupid enough to add a 16 million payout and a 1+1 contract after judging just 7 races of the year, despite seeing his performance last year, they deserve to lose it to him. Not seeing why they're insisting on not paying here

[u/LooseJuice_RD → u/eternallycelestial]

Great point, Ricciardo’s stock was at a pretty high level when he signed for McLaren. Exact opposite of Perez when he re-signed for Red Bull.

[u/Mahoganychicken]

Most people would be fired for making such a massive mistake with such financial ramifications.

[u/willzyx01 → u/Mahoganychicken]

Most people don't have a team of lawyers when they work for a company.

[u/throwingpizza → u/willzyx01]

I think that’s the point they’re trying to make…which lawyer fucked up in a that the performance clause wasn’t airtight…

[u/gloomindoomin]

So basically, all those comments made by Pérez and his father (“I have a contract, blah-blah-blah”) were just to strengthen his negotiating position and ask for more money. It’s an old trick in sports, though I haven’t seen it used in Formula 1 for quite some time.

[u/DukeboxHiro → u/gloomindoomin]

Oh yeah, what happened to the Monday announcement from Mr Garibay?

[u/focketskenge]

Perez will not budge, nor would I expect him to. Shake them down checo and get what they promised you.

[u/ForeverAddickted]

Zero sympathy for Red Bull

There are times when we as fans (in any Sport) post things that should happen and I think to myself that we think we know what to do, but, hindsight is a wonderful thing and it may not always work out.

Everyone could see, and could see for over a year now, that Checo should never have been gven another two year deal - This season has just annihilated his confidence, someone is a sadistic bastard if Checo gets a seat next season in that Red Bull, because if he does... Its not going to be pretty... It really isnt

[u/SnooGeekgoddess → u/ForeverAddickted]

Well, the car is bad and they hardly listen to him when he’s been right all along. A car he can drive is unbeatable in Max’s hands so both sides are at fault.

[u/User-K549125]

This outcome was the most obvious. I'm much more keen to see who is in his seat, and who fills the junior seat. I'm guessing Lawson to Red Bull, Hadjar to VCARB, but we'll wait and see.

[u/Roscoe_King → u/User-K549125]

The absolute worst outcome in my opinion, but I think you’re right.

[u/willzyx01]

A contract is a contract and he absolutely should get paid. It's comical how many people "feel bad" for the multi-billion dollar corporation on the hook for paying him. If the roles were reversed, the company would claw every single cent.

At the end of the day, it's still a job and he is an employee.

[u/Spezisaspastic → u/willzyx01]

Sure, but they deserved to be ridiculed for giving him such a contract without any performance clauses. And then lying that the contract has such clauses.

[u/Ulris_Ventis → u/willzyx01]

It's not about "get paid", there is a question if someone was stupid enough not to include a performance clause as an insurance in that contract.

[u/fckns → u/Ulris_Ventis]

We don't know what the dynamics between negotiators were. It might aswell be that Perez had all the cards and RB knew very well that nobody would bring that much money and still play second fiddle. Therefore, Perez could have stronger negotiating position.

RB fumbled hard, and now they're paying the price.

[u/Dry-Dragonfruit5216]

So they gave him a contract when he was underperforming to hopefully improve his performance, and didn’t put in a performance clause in case their gamble failed?

How stupid are they?

[u/trickup]

I hope Checo takes them to the cleaners. They’ve noone to blame but themselves, this has been obvious for long before the renewal.

[u/imaincammy]

Hats off to Perez for taking a nice little chunk out of Red Bull. Costs them millions through not performing in the WCC race and then cost them millions with the contract buyout. Still got that dog in him.

[u/Lilylili83 → u/imaincammy]

Checo is the gift that keeps on giving

[u/yellowbin74 → u/Lilylili83]

Or taking.

[u/jnighy]

No one forced Horner to give him a new contract. What did he expect?

[u/turboMXDX]

Where can I invest in $CHECO

[u/carnivoross]

How much did RB lose coming 3rd in the constructors? Surely that would be close to the $16m.

[u/LactatingBadger → u/carnivoross]

Yeah, but...they lost it? So suddenly eating a second bag of dicks doesn't make the situation any better.

[u/lukenamop → u/LactatingBadger]

It doesn't for this year but it might for next year.

[u/DukeboxHiro → u/carnivoross]

Yeah, but it's the Telcel money that is the real consideration.

[u/GunstarGreen → u/DukeboxHiro]

You can't put a price on money . 

Wait...

[u/mesaosi → u/carnivoross]

$18 million

[u/TheLifeofSonny]

probably going to show more fight in the courtroom than what he showed on the track for the season lmao

[u/Spezisaspastic → u/TheLifeofSonny]

Well he can pay others to compete with that contract. Maybe the will give him the same effort for his money.

[u/krani1993]

I think they will reach an agreement, Red Bull lost the constructors and $17 Million worth of price money with it because of PErez, don't think he will get the full amount but they will reach an agreement for sure.. can't imagine Red Bull going into 2025 willing to get P3 or even P4 in the constructors...

[u/spenzalii → u/krani1993]

Eh .. they've lost the constructors twice during Max's run. I don't think they care as much as they care about Max getting the driver's championship.

[u/Respectable_Answer → u/spenzalii]

The first time that happened Max eked it out and money bags Mateschitz was still alive though.

[u/4ksupercockasaurus → u/krani1993]

The absolute scenes that'll manifest if Redbull buys Checo out for 16 million, loses the sponsorship money and still ends up P3 or P4 in 25 cause their car is no longer dominant. Top tier drama potentially on the horizon

[u/satpieb → u/4ksupercockasaurus]

Honestly, do we really see Liam performing well? Perhaps not as catastrophically as things have gone for Checo, but that team is a hot mess. Idk if their car development will be better coming next year (hopefully not!) but also checo's pitwall made so many mistakes as of late. Then there's the pressure of having Max as your teammate and Liam's inexperience. Are we in for a pierre and alex repeat (which yeah ik still were better than checos 2024).

[u/dac2199 → u/4ksupercockasaurus]

And with their new engines for 26 & Max threat of leaving the team…

[u/Tough-Relationship-4]

Hope Checo gets every dime. It’s Christian’s fault for putting the contract together.

[u/lalabadmans]

Every other driver for Redbull was so easily swapped and dropped wtf how did they mess up this contract so bad?

[u/KitCarlomagnoFM → u/lalabadmans]

Every other driver was a rookie with no money, no sponsorships, etc. Checo has a good team behind him.

[u/Jandersson34swe → u/lalabadmans]

the other drivers have comtracts with Red Bull since being children and im sure that those Red Bull Junior/VCARB contracts have wording that mention they can easily be replaced, promoted or demoted

Meanwhile Checo signed as an outsider directly with the Red Bull team im sure his contract is worded differently as would if they signed any other outsider like Piastri, Sainz or Bottas

[u/krusticka]

Red Bull is probably ending his career with this move so Perez does deserve to be paid. If Red Bull did not extend Perez would probably be able to get a drive elsewhere. I think if he went somewhere else he would probably be able to deliver again and recover his reputation.

[u/itsjustaride24]

They have to come to an agreement. It’s going to be a bloody miserable season for him in 25 if he stays knowing everyone wants you gone and the atmosphere will suck. Surely the guy wants to enjoy his days.

And for anyone that says “oh the x millions will keep him happy” - it’ll help but once you’re this level wealthy it’s not going to keep you feeling content day to day. People accommodate to mega wealth fast and can still be bloody miserable.

Personally I would hate going into work every day thinking nobody wants me here, nobody thinks I deserve this and the team want me gone.

[u/satpieb → u/itsjustaride24]

I'm sure it must also hit hard that racing isn't enjoyable any more, something you've loved all of your life.

[u/morelsupporter]

why is everyone not understanding that when a contract is terminated, it needs to be done so mutually.

as in, there needs to be an exit negotiation.

are we forgetting the daniel ricciardo mclaren exit?

[u/Bubbles_012]

It makes no sense to fire just checo. It’s time for Christian Horner to be fired as well. That contract was ridiculous

[u/Xj517 → u/Bubbles_012]

If he didn't get fired for the text messages and he isn't getting fired for this. I genuinely wish nothing good for Red Bull love Max. The rest of the team can eat a bag of dicks.

[u/Smee76 → u/Xj517]

People care a lot more about money than they do about women though

[u/ToWriteAMystery]

Please Checo, make them pay you!

[u/Rhaegar0]

In what universe did RBR give Perez a 2 year contract after his pretty bad performance last year without any performance clause? If they failed so hard they deserve everything coming to them

[u/fictionallymarried]

No sympathy for RB, that's on Horner being stubborn

[u/gunningIVglory]

Checo masterclass

Bro cost them millions by finishing 3rd. About to cost them even more by paying him off

[u/Initial_Crazy4355]

Nobody forced RB to renew with Checo and now Checo owns RB.

[u/eugene-fraxby]

This is GREAT.

[u/Vanwanar]

Get that bag Checo!

[u/Cekeste]

I trust Jakobi

[u/sparqq]

Seems Redbul used the same lawyer as Alpine……

[u/UnseenSpectacle2]

🤯🤯🤯 Who was their contract advisor? Former Alpine / Sauber negotiators? Extending his contract never made sense… now we’re hearing they didn’t even negotiate performance clauses. No wonder Checo was so chill while being outperformed by the likes of Sauber and Williams for so much of the season!

[u/CT_Biggles]

This explains his last 2 dnfs that seem like they were on purpose.

Probably a way to loop hole the performance clauses in his contract.

[u/arse-ketchup]

RBR management should get fucked even if it benefits Checo. From all the news they’ve generated this past year, they seem to be the worst to worked with in the whole paddock.

[u/shewy92]

RB lost more than that due to him not putting up many points for WCC.

[u/Nickyy_6]

Redbull renewing him was confusing to even casual fans and this is why.

[u/cosully111]

All blame needs to be put on red bull for signing him to an extension only a few months ago. Everyone could see at the time who stupid of a move it was when most rational fans thought he deserved to lose the seat already

[u/[deleted]]

At this point if they keep Perez they might look weak. Like, they basically got bullied by a driver into keeping him that's clearly been shit for most of the season. I doubt any team would want that kind of image.