Perez admits to being exhausted by Red Bull 'challenge'

Sergio Perez has admitted his push to extract performance at Red Bull has taken “absolutely everything” out of him.

The 34-year-old has endured a difficult run of races, scoring just 15 points across the last six grand prix weekends.

The lacklustre results have led to increased speculation that he could be set to depart Red Bull despite signing a contract extension earlier this year.

RacingNews365 understands clauses exist in Perez's contract that state he must be within 100 points of team-mate Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship before the summer break, as well as within five positions in the standings, or the possibility emerges that he could be dropped early.

Perez states he is doing all he can to shut out the noise surrounding his future, which he feels is amplified due to being a Red Bull driver.

“It’s difficult to shut down the external noise,” Perez told media including RacingNews365. 

“But at the end of the day, I come here to give my very best, my maximum effort and when I'm here, when I'm training, when I'm in the simulator, I focus on the important stuff.

“At the end of the day, the noise, I think it's obviously a lot bigger when you are at Red Bull. But I think it's the beauty of the challenge.

“It's why I decided to sign and extend my contract with the team because I love the challenge.

“It's really hard, but it takes absolutely everything out of you and this is why I want to continue.”

Perez denies extra pressure as F1 summer break looms

With just two more races set to be held before the summer break, Perez denied he is feeling added pressure on his shoulders.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “These next two races give the same amount of points. 

“At the end of the day, we need these points from now until the end of the year. So it doesn't change anything, these next two races.”

Perez highlighted after the British Grand Prix that the next two races are key - however he denied this is due to a deadline to evaluate his performance.

“Obviously I can't talk about my contract, what I said [after Silverstone] is that the next two races are important for me.

"I want to go on holiday with a good spirit and I think it's good for my side of the garage to go with a good spirit. 

“I wasn't talking about anything else. I'm fully focused to fully deliver. I will be here and here again next year and that's nothing different. I'm just fully committed to myself."