F1: Sergio Prez renews until 2024 and Red Bull closes the door to Fernando Alonso again

“When it has been increasing its level of comfort it has become a benchmark,” says Horner, boss of the Austrian team.

sergio prez, brand new winner of the Monaco GP, extended his contract with Red Bull until the end of 2024, confirming what he himself had announced last Sunday, minutes after crossing the checkered flag in the Principality. “I have probably signed too early,” the Mexican commented to Christian Hornerteam leader, joking that this victory might have earned him a bigger salary.

The prolongation of Prez, third in the 2022 World Cup at 15 points from Max Verstappenputs an end to some rumors that placed Fernando Alonso in the second seat of Red Bull from next season. These comments in paddock they had been stopped three weeks ago by Horner himself. “It’s great that Fernando is still in F1 and that at over 40 he still has options, but he doesn’t fit into our plans,” the Briton told Sky F1 microphones.

This news is also a severe blow to Pierre Gasly, that last year he had shone behind the wheel of an AlphaTauri and that he still dreamed of the possibility of returning to the team. Can’t feel satisfied either Yuki Tsunodawho this year has 11 points more than Gasly in the Red Bull subsidiary, including three races in the top 10.

“My relationship with Max…”

Of course, the priority for the Austrian team went through the continuity of Prez, essential last season in the title of Verstappen. “He has shown on several occasions that he is not only an excellent team man, but that when he has increased his comfort level he has become a benchmark at the front of the grid,” Horner valued.

Fans of the Grand Circus have not yet forgotten the Mexican’s memorable defense against Lewis Hamilton during the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, when he managed to delay the seven-time world champion for two laps, in a position defense that was decisive for the final success of his race. Dutch mate.

“We work very well together and my relationship with Max, on and off the track, helps push us even further,” Prez said in the official Red Bull statement. Some statements with which he tried to placate the recent controversies with the current world champion. And it is that just two weeks ago, during the Spanish GP, the driver from Guadalajara had received the order to let himself be overtaken by Verstappen, a decision that a couple of hours later he himself would describe as “unfair”.