$40M Sponsorship Reported to Save Sergio Perez’s Seat as Max Verstappen Loses 10-Year-Old Patron

It is ironic that Max Verstappen has lost out on one of his long-time sponsors, Jumbo, this year despite being a class apart on track. The Dutchman carried over his title-winning form of 2023 this season to clinch his fourth consecutive world championship with nine Grand Prix wins to his name. On the other hand, his teammate Sergio Perez could not even win a single race and was off the Dutchman’s pace, which has even put his Red Bull seat under threat.

However, the Mexican driver is not short of sponsorship backing. In fact, several of Perez‘s sponsors are pushing for his stay at Red Bull racing. Per Marca, the 34-year-old has some new sponsors from business magnate Carlos Slim’s group. Apparently, the addition to Perez’s financial contribution to Red Bull may keep his seat secure for 2025.

Some of the companies that sponsor the #11 driver include Telcel, Claro, Infinitium, Kit-Kat, Banorte, Uber Mexico, and many more. If Perez has to leave Red Bull, all these sponsors will also leave the Milton Keynes outfit, causing a significant loss of cash inflow for them.

Marca reported that these brands pump in around $40 million to Red Bull, out of which $10 million covers Perez’s salary. Red Bull boss Christian Horner is probably in a dilemma — if they make the tough call to replace Perez with a faster and more consistent driver who can be closer to Verstappen, then they risk losing all the sponsorship money the Mexican driver brings.

As for Verstappen, Jumbo was his sponsor for around 10 years since his F3 days. However, its exit has completely unrelated reasons with the supermarket chain’s erstwhile CEO getting involved in a money laundering case.

As a result, Jumbo decided to pull out of all sports sponsorships. But their contract with Verstappen ran through the end of 2024, so they had to honor it.

What is holding Red Bull to cut off ties with Perez?

Perez has been rather staunch in his claim that he will stay on as a Red Bull driver in 2025 amid the constant reports of the team looking to sack him. This confidence from the 34-year-old indicates that there may be a big financial leverage he holds in his contractual ties with the Austrian team.

There have been reports that Red Bull may have to give a hefty payout amount to make Perez leave the team. The Mexican has a valid contract for 2025, which he signed in mid-2024. Some reports claim that the Bulls may have to pay him a severance amount of $16 million. Meanwhile, some other reports have given even more amplified amounts.

Nevertheless, even a $10 to 15 million payout can shake a team’s finances in the budget cap era in F1. While driver salaries are not part of the cap, teams cannot afford to lose out on such significant amounts which can be beneficial to the team’s long-term plans in the sport.

As a result, Red Bull is trying to negotiate around these complications in Perez’s situation. There has been a notion that the Mexican driver could stay with the team as a third ambassador driver, a role that Daniel Ricciardo essayed in the first half of 2023. Even David Coulthard has a similar dynamic with the Bulls.

In this manner, Red Bull may not lose the sponsorship money, and may even get a better driver in their second race seat. However, this seems easier said than done.