“This Isn’t Show ‘Friends'”: Red Bull Need to Get Serious With Sergio Perez To Face the Reality of F1

Red Bull has been struggling comprehensively with performance for the last few weeks and Sergio Perez’s poor form has added to the team’s misery. A former driver for the Austrian stable, David Coulthard feels that Perez should be held accountable.

On the Formula for Success podcast, former team owner Eddie Jordan talks about Perez‘s disastrous Belgian GP. The Mexican driver started from P2, but finished the race in eighth, which later became seventh because of George Russell’s disqualification.

Jordan then tells Coulthard that the latter’s friend, Christian Horner, should take Perez’s slump seriously. Coulthard agrees and replies with “This isn’t [the] show ‘Friends'”.

Coulthard, with his comments, suggests that not every story has a happy ending, and Red Bull has to minimize its losses by letting Perez go. The Guadalajara-born driver’s deficit to Verstappen in the standings has hurt Red Bull tremendously in the Constructors’ Championship. While the hosts feel that Red Bull will end up winning this year’s title, they cannot afford to risk it in the future.

Perez was on the brink of losing his seat after the Belgian GP. Team principal Horner reportedly wanted him gone, and they had Daniel Ricciardo lined up to fill in for the remaining 10 races of 2024.

Into August we go… #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/b5UhDWaKPq

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) August 1, 2024

However, Liberty Media intervened. Perez is very popular in Mexico and the whole of North America, which makes him a big commercial asset. With the Mexican GP coming up later this year, F1 could lose out on a lot of money due to ticket sales if Perez isn’t a part of the paddock.

For now, the 34-year-old will remain at Red Bull. But if he continues with his slump in the second half of the season too, even Liberty Media could find it difficult to prevent him from getting the sack.