Perez Signing a New Contract With Red Bull Could Influence F1 in an Unimaginable Way

Formula One is a very private place, with only 20 drivers getting a chance to drive these fantastic machineries. When an F1 driver makes a contractual move, a chain reaction happens most of the time. For example, last year, Sergio moved to Red Bull, Vettel took his place at Aston Martin (Racing Point), Ferrari promoted Carlos Sainz and Ricciardo took the Spaniard's place at McLaren. With that in mind, let's see how Perez's contract extension will influence the F1 world in the future.

Probably Pierre Gasly will feel the most considerable effect of this decision. The Frenchman drove for Red Bull back in 2019, but for only 12 races due to underwhelming performance. However, since he joined Torro Rosso/AlphaTauri, he had been of the best drivers on the grid, even grabbing a win at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. For the past months, Pierre has been associated with the senior team, but now it's clear that his future is not with the energy drink company.

Pierre can go anywhere he desires, with his contract being out by 2023. At the same time, he could stay at AlphaTauri, where he will be the unchallenged leading driver, a project that really suits him. However, Gasly is very angry at the team for blowing a good chance in Monaco. He is running out of patience in what has been a disappointing season so far.

The other driver in the AlphaTauri lineup, Yuki Tsunoda, is probably very thankful. After a horrible campaign last year, Yuki's future was quite shaky. However, his 2022 season is looking good until now, outscoring Gasly and finishing three times in the top ten. As a comparison, Tsunoda out-qualified his teammate only once in 2021.

Besides, if Pierre leaves, the Italian team will not look to have a fully refreshed lineup, which means Yuki will have number one driver status in the future. At the same time, Red Bull has five drivers in their junior program, so if Gasly or Tsunoda were to leave the team, they got plenty of solid choices in F2.

Probably Max Verstappen is the happiest person besides "Checo" to have him for two more years. Until now, Perez has proved himself as the best wingman for the 2021 world champion, especially after what he did for Max at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In my opinion, Max would have never been a champion if anyone else would have been his teammate. As a result, Verstappen will be the favorite driver to win the next championships. Of course, only if his car is good enough and Perez still wants the "only wingman" role.

Now, let's look outside the Red Bull family, where the most influenced team by Perez's contract extension is McLaren. At its best, McLaren is the third-fastest car this year, competing with Mercedes' Silver Arrows. However, they are a little uncertain about their drivers' lineup.

Daniel Ricciardo has a contract with a break clause (as all F1 agreements do), so it's a chance he won't be on the British team next year. An open place at an elite group such as McLaren would create excitement and agitation around the paddock, but probably the first option will be Pierre Gasly.

In a similar position as McLaren is Aston Martin. Sebastian Vettel's future in F1 is unsure for next year and Lance Stroll is still as mediocre as ever. Combined with the fact that Aston has had an awful start to the current campaign, maybe they will want to start from scratch with a new lineup.

The next couple of months will be very interesting and will determine what happens on the driver market in the off-season.