A 2021 Red Bull contract for Sergio Perez could be announced "next week".

That is the news from Niki Juusela, a respected correspondent for the Finnish broadcaster C More.

"The information that came into our studio is that Perez's Red Bull agreement will be announced next week," he said.

Fascinatingly, Juusela's prediction ties in exactly with the latest comments made by Dr Helmut Marko - Red Bull's notorious driver manager.

"We are waiting for this last race," Marko told Kleine Zeitung from Abu Dhabi.

"(Alex) Albon's last race in Bahrain wasn't great, but we don't want to jump to conclusions," he insisted. "The decision will be made in a few days."

Marko admits that Mexican Perez, who won in Bahrain recently but has lost his Racing Point seat to Sebastian Vettel, is on Red Bull's "radar".

"Perez has been on our radar for the whole of the second half of the season," he admitted.

"I'm flying to England on Monday, and there will be a decision before Christmas at the latest."