P2 in the Championship Not a Safety Net for Endangered Sergio Perez: “They’ll Stick Daniel Ricciardo in the Car Next to Max Verstappen”

Sergio Perez has managed to somewhat salvage his season by securing P2 in the championship standings ahead of Lewis Hamilton. However, F1 analyst Will Buxton believes that Perez’s seat is in danger as long as Daniel Ricciardo is driving for AlphaTauri.

On one of the episodes of The Fast And The Curious Podcast, host Greg James asked Buxton if Perez’s seat in Red Bull was safe after he managed to secure the P2 that the team always wanted from him. Buxton immediately replied, “No Way!”

💥 Will Buxton: “Si Ricciardo recupera su estado de forma, lo pondrán al lado de Max Verstappen”.

👉 “La única razón por la que Daniel está ahí es para presionar a Checo Pérez”.

👉 “Si Checo no puede tener un rendimiento consistente, entonces cuestionarán por qué está ahí”.… pic.twitter.com/tiQPac4cGx

— Fórmula Directa (@FormulaDirecta) November 21, 2023

Buxton went on to explain that Perez will never be safe as long as Ricciardo is racing for AlphaTauri. The F1 expert claimed that Red Bull have realized that the only person who can push Verstappen as a teammate is Ricciardo.

Buxton explained, “If Daniel gets back to Daniel’s form of old, then they’ll stick him in the car next to Max [Verstappen] because they were the best driver lineup they had in terms of a two-driver team. I think, ever.” The British analyst then claimed that things are never secure when it comes to Red Bull.

They can choose to sack Perez even after two or three races into the season, or they might not do it at all. However, the one thing that is clear is that Red Bull do not take a soft approach towards their drivers. As per Buxton, the Milton-Keynes outfit believes in bringing in competition and pushing their drivers to perform to their limit, which they are doing with Perez.

Verstappen has no problem being teammates with Perez or Ricciardo

Max Verstappen shares a positive relationship with both of the drivers and he told the media ahead of the Sao Paulo GP that he had no problem working with either Sergio Perez or Daniel Ricciardo. He had said, “They have been great teammates and it’s not up to me at the end of the day to make these kinds of decisions because I’m very focused on my own performance.”

Therefore, it is extremely clear that it does not worry Verstappen who he will get as his teammate for next year. Meanwhile, Ricciardo revealed after the Mexican GP that he didn’t have any conversation with the Red Bull management for a possible drive in 2024. Therefore, as it stands right now, Perez will retain his seat till the end of 2024 at least.