Christian Horner has said Sergio Perez knows F1 is a "results-based business" and sees the Constructors' Championship as the key result Perez can still contribute to.
Perez endured another miserable weekend at the Brazilian Grand Prix where he scored a solitary point, heaping more pressure on the Mexican driver's shoulders amidst reports he may not even see out the season with Red Bull.
That was refuted by Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, however, in doing so he made it clear Perez's place at the team is not secure for 2025 despite the driver signing a new contract earlier this year.
"We are currently evaluating everything," Marko told Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung. "Decisions will only be made after Abu Dhabi."
Scoring a solitary point in Brazil where he was P8 in the Sprint race while Max Verstappen brought in 31 including the Grand Prix win, Perez has scored just eight points in the last five races. In that time Red Bull have not only lost the lead in the Constructors' Championship to McLaren in Baku, but they also dropped behind Ferrari in Mexico.
With 544 points on the board, the reigning World Champions trail McLaren by 49 points and Ferrari by 13.
Perez's future could be determined by whether or not he's able to help Red Bull wrestle back control in the teams' standings as that's still very much one of Red Bull's big goals in the final three races of the season – and perhaps the final three in Perez's Red Bull career too.
"Formula 1, as we know, is results-based business," Horner told TalkSPORT, "and Sergio is very, very aware of that.
"And you know, he's not happy with how the season has gone for him, as you would expect. So, he's big enough and old enough and wise enough to recognise that.
"But our focus is very much still on the Constructors' Championship as well and we need Sergio to be up there scoring in these last couple of races, or last three races, if we to have any chance of challenging either Ferrari or McLaren."
Horner is well aware that it won't be easy for Red Bull given the competition as both McLaren and Ferrari are in good form with two wins each in the last five Grands Prix.
"It's tricky," he conceded. "We had a very strong start, but then other teams have hit very strong form over the summer months, and it's only recently that we've started to get real performance back on the car, winning the Sprint race in Austin and now the Grand Prix in Brazil.
"But still, all to play for, three Grands Prix, one Sprint race, still to go. So still plenty of points available."
While there are 86 points in play in the Drivers' Championship, which Max Verstappen leads by 62 points ahead of Lando Norris, there are 147 up for grabs in the Constructors'.
Perez has been defiant in the face of rumours he could be deposed by Liam Lawson, adamant he will be a Red Bull driver next season.
Asked if he was worried that he wouldn't be around much longer, he told the media in Brazil: "No, not at all. It's just rumours, at the end of the day.
"You will see me in Vegas, you will see me next year. I'm not the one that worries about it."
Pressed on Marko's comment that him staying on into 2025 was not certain, the driver added: "Well I know I am. That's all I can say."
The next F1 race is the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, which takes place over 50 laps of the 6.120-kilometre street circuit in on Sunday, November 24. The 14-turn street circuit with top speeds of around 342 kilometres per hour on the long straight across the strip.
