Sergio Perez has vowed to recover from his recent slump in results as he remained coy over rumours that his Red Bull Formula 1 deal comprises certain exit clauses.
Perez began the current campaign on an encouraging note as he achieved four podiums in the opening five races as Red Bull’s dominance appeared to be continuing.
However, the Mexican has endured a similar slump to the one that derailed his season last term as he has contributed a meagre 15 points across the past six rounds.
Perez’s sudden regression has come at a time when rivals have closed on Red Bull and put an increased emphasis on Perez to help Max Verstappen at the sharp end.
Meanwhile, Perez’s dip in competitiveness has prompted rumours that his current 137-point gap to his team-mate could trigger an exit clause in his deal this summer.
But Perez has clarified that his comments at Silverstone – where he trailed home a lapped 15th – did not come as a reference to his contractual situation with Red Bull.
Asked whether there was substance to the rumours regarding his latest deal, Perez replied: “There’s nothing related to that. Obviously I cannot talk about my contract.
“What I said was 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.”
Perez reiterated that he was not placing an added onus on the two races prior to the break amid rumours that Hungary and Belgium could be pivotal to his prospects.
“These two races give the same amount of points and we need these points from now until the end of the year, so it doesn’t change anything for me,” Perez added.
Perez denied that he would seek assurances from Red Bull boss Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko, who stated an evaluation would take place this summer.
“I renewed my contract not long ago,” he explained. “I don’t think that’s relevant, for us, for the team.
“What’s relevant is we focus on track, we focus back in the factory, we focus on the things we can control. The rest is just external noise, that’s how it works.”
The six-time F1 race winner has also quashed the notion that the heightened pressure that comes with being a Red Bull driver has inspired his latest plight in results.
“It’s difficult to shut down the external noise,” he accepted.
“But at the end of the day I come here to get my very best, my maximum effort and when I’m here, when I’m at home training or at home in the simulator I focus on the important stuff.
“At the end of the day the noise – I think it’s a lot bigger when you’re at Red Bull. But it’s the beauty of this challenge.
“It’s why I decided to sign and extend my contract with this team because I love the challenge.
“It’s really hard but it takes absolutely everything out of you and that’s why I wanted to continue here.”
Expanding upon the struggles that have characterised his season, Perez thinks that several situations have contributed to him ending up caught in a “vicious circle”.
“I haven’t been performing, first of all, at my 100% in the circumstances when you put yourself in difficult positions,” he said. “I take a lot of responsibility for that.
“Obviously there’s been a lot of circumstances as well with different sort of races, so I think it’s a little bit of everything when you are in this vicious circle.
“We had a really strong Friday but then I messed up in Silverstone in qualifying.
“Then with the strategy in Silverstone we just throw the dice and see what happened and it didn’t work for us.
“The main thing is I’ve been in this business too long and I know it will only matter where I finish in Abu Dhabi. So let’s ride the rollercoaster and hopefully get back on form very soon.”
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