Perez job in jeopardy as Red Bull boss refuses to confirm Mexican driver will finish F1 season

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Sergio Perez climbed into his car for the Mexico City Grand Prix as nearly 155,000 fans at his home race shouted “Checo! Checo! Checo!" in adoration of the wildly popular Formula 1 driver.

It was a critical race for the slumping Perez — he said repeatedly all weekend it is his favorite event of the year — and he knows his job is in danger because of his lack of performance.

Alas, Perez could not deliver for his hopeful fans or for Red Bull Racing. After a 17th-place finish Sunday, team principal Christian Horner would not guarantee Perez will finish the season.

Horner had been emphatic two days earlier that the contract extension Perez signed earlier this year was valid for 2025. But he has performance clauses in his existing contract, and when The Associated Press asked Horner directly if Perez would finish this season, Horner refused to endorse the driver for the final four races.

“There comes a point in time that difficult decisions have to be made,” Horner said. “We’re now third in the constructors championship.”

Horner did say Perez would be in the car next weekend in Brazil.

Horner admitted the Mexican “had a horrible weekend” that started when he was eliminated in the first round of Saturday qualifying, relegating him to an 18th-place starting position. Perez was then outside his box at the start and received a five-second penalty.

He later got into a wheel-to-wheel battle with Liam Lawson of Red Bull sister team RB, and the contact caused damage that made Perez's car uncompetitive.

A win by Carlos Sainz moved Ferrari ahead of Red Bull for second in the lucrative constructor standings and the two-time reigning champions of the prize that pays an estimated $150 million is now a longshot to win it for the third consecutive year.

Red Bull's slip in that category is largely because of Perez's failures. He's eighth in the standings, winless on the year, and crashed out of three races.

“He knows Formula 1 is a results-based business, and you know, inevitably, when you’re not delivering, then the spotlight is firmly on,” Horner said. “When anyone is underperforming, there is always going to be scrutiny on that. You know, as a team, we need to have both (drivers) scoring points.”

Max Verstappen has scored 362 points this season; Perez has scored just 150.

“We’re working with him as hard as we can to try and support him," Horner said. "We’ve done everything that we can to support Checo, and we’ll continue to do so in Brazil next weekend. But there comes a point in time that you can only do so much.”

Perez, although disappointed with his weekend, didn't sound like a driver worried about his job.

“This has been a complicated weekend," he said. "I always say it’s my dream to win the grand prix in Mexico and I’ll try again next year. After all of the support from all of these fans, it’s incredible. They have given me so much, it’s all worth it for them. We’ll try again for them next year stronger.”

His future — or lack of one in F1 — could be a problem for the Mexico City race, which heads into the final year of its current contract seeking an extension. The race this weekend drew a record 404,958 spectators and was sold out for the ninth consecutive year.

But many of the fans who attend come to see Perez, and attendance could slip if he or another Mexican driver isn't on the F1 grid. Event president Alejandro Soberón said tickets for this weekend went on sale two weeks after Perez crashed out of last year's race seconds after it started and still sold out in two hours.

Tickets for 2025 will again go on sale in two weeks, and it is unclear if Perez's status for next year will be determined even though Horner had been adamant Friday he was under contract for 2025.

Soberon believes the race will have high demand.

“There’s very few races who have a local driver. Everybody of course would love to have a local driver, but the first year we did the race here 50% of the fans were in a red T-shirt, so Ferrari has a wonderful following here," he said. "We have no more capacity. We could have drawn 600,000 if we had unlimited capacity, we could have another 200,000 here, but we cannot put them.

“That’s why it sold out so fast in one year in advance. Probably without Checo maybe a drop of 20%, 25%, naturally, (but) still would be a sellout.”

Soberón also said the Mexico City Grand Prix is so unique — it embraces the Mexican culture and incorporates it in the paddock and throughout the venue — and is a destination race for F1 fans outside of the country. He noted that the event is a boon for the local economy, with everything from hotels, restaurants and transportation services fully booked all week.

“The Mexican crowd, the fandom, is very strong for F1 in general. Obviously, Checo is a great enhancement for this,” he said. "But Mexico has been very close to the heart of F1. We have a much better show on track today to what we had five years ago. I think competition and quality of the spectacle at the track is going to be enough to sustain the interest of the crowd, so we as a promoter of the race, we’re very excited trying to figure out a way to extend our (F1) contract regardless of Checo.

“We’re fairly optimistic that we’re going to have a race for many, many years."

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Fans of Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, from Mexico, attend a promotional event by sponsors in Mexico City, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, ahead of the weekend Formula One Mexico Grand Prix auto race. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez of Mexico looks up during a press conference at Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack ahead of the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix in Mexico City, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

A fan of Red Bull driver Sergio Perez poses for photos with a Mexican flag during the third free practice ahead of the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix auto race at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack in Mexico City, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Fans cheer for Red Bull driver Sergio Perez of Mexico and Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz of Spain before the start of the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix auto race at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack in Mexico City, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez of Mexico leaves the pits during the third free practice ahead of the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix auto race at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack in Mexico City, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, right, and teammate Sergio Perez of Mexico greet spectators before the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix auto race at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack in Mexico City, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce insists physicality is stitched into the fabric of his football team.

The fabric appeared to get snagged, again.

The Kansas City Chiefs (7-0) muscled their way to a 27-20 victory Sunday to stay unbeaten, while the listless Raiders (2-6) had their worst offensive day of the season while losing their fourth straight game.

”(We’re) trying to establish some physicality with our guys up front,” Pierce said. “That was part of our identity and DNA that we’ve been harping on. We harped on in training camp. We’re going to continue harp on it.”

Las Vegas finished with a season-low 228 yards while its 33 yards rushing were its fewest against the Chiefs since it rushed for a mere 31 on Dec. 5, 2004. In addition, the Raiders' 1.57 yards per carry were their second-fewest ever versus Kansas City, the lowest being 0.73 on Dec. 3, 1995.

Only three teams on four occasions have averaged less than 2.0 yards per carry in a game this season. And it was the Raiders who did it twice, both times finishing with 1.6 per carry, including Sunday.

“It was a good defensive front up front,” said running back Alexander Mattison, whose 1.07 yards per carry is third-worst for a Raiders player with 14 or more carries in a game. “Got to give props to those guys on the other side of the ball. They did a good job. We have to do better in our execution. We have to do better schematically however you look at it.

“We’ll look at tape, we’ll see what went wrong, what could have went better. I got to fight for extra yards, do things where I can try and get it going. But it takes a team effort, so we have to make sure we look at it as a team, be accountable as a team, and do what we can to make sure that we’re on the other side of that and we don’t continue to let that happen.”

Pierce, Mattison and quarterback Gardner Minshew all scoffed at the notion offensive coordinator Luke Getsy's play calling should be called into question, despite the fact only four of the Raiders’ offensive drives lasted longer than four plays.

Like when they put themselves in position to take the lead after an interception in the third quarter placed the offense at Kansas City's 3. But Mattison was stopped on three consecutive runs before Minshew was sacked on fourth down.

“I think there’s two sides of the story,” Mattison said. “There’s the play-calling and there’s execution. Both of them have to be in alignment. And there was a couple times where they weren’t. We just have to own up to it, take accountability, and make sure that we go out there and do a better job on the next drive, on the next play.

“There was just too many times in this game where we just weren’t able to execute. We get in certain situations we have to execute, we have to come out with points, and we didn’t. And of course, we can’t turn the ball over. That's been a theme this season that has taken us out of games, and for that reason we have to make sure we keep those off the board.”

The Raiders are at Cincinnati next Sunday before their bye week, when they'll have a better chance to remedy their offensive woes.

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Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce speaks during a news conference following an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew speaks during a news conference following an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Las Vegas Raiders running back Alexander Mattison (22) runs with the ball as Kansas City Chiefs safety Nazeeh Johnson (13) defends during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew (15) is stopped by Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton (98) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)