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Suppose my brother's school is closed today (for some reason). I knew it and he did too. But he forgot it and left for school. After that I say this to our mother:

  1. I'm too late to remind him his school is closed today.

  2. I'm too late to have reminded him his school is closed today.

  3. I was too late to remind him his school is closed today.

  4. I was too late to have reminded him his school is closed today.

Which is correct in the context?

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    The difference between I am too late [to do blah blah] and I was too late [to do it] is trivial (is it a current situation, or something in the past?). Logically / syntactically / semantically it makes little or no difference whether you cast remind as the simple infinitive ...to remind him OR you introduce the "helper verb" have as an infinitive followed by a Past Participle, as ...to have reminded him. But idiomatically, most native speakers would normally prefer the first (simpler) version in such contexts.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Dec 26, 2021 at 17:29

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In that situation, all of 1-4 carry much the same meaning and a fluent speaker might use any of them, although I agree with FumbleFingers that 1 is the most likely choice.

If the event is not so current 1 would not be favored. For example:

Unfortunately, I was on an anthropological trip to the Amazon and quite out of contact when John decided to visit our parents. I was too late to remind him that leaving the country would forfeit his visa status. Years later, he is still trying to gain readmission.

Here "I am too late" would simply not work.

The use of the participle form (have reminded) makes little difference however long ago the event was. It is largely a matter of style, and most will prefer the shortr form. The form with "have" perhaps slightly distances the speaker from the event, and might be chosen for that reason.

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