Sergio Perez’s seat being under threat has been an open secret in the F1 paddock for over a month. Red Bull is due to conduct a meeting about the same issue on the Monday after the Belgian GP race. Many speculated the sole purpose of this meeting would be to decide on Perez’s future. However, Red Bull boss Christian Horner clarifies that it is a regular meeting they have before the summer break.
According to RacingNews365, Horner stated,
“[Red Bull] We’re constantly analyzing, we’re constantly looking at things. We’ve got a meeting, but it’s not just about Checo [Sergio Perez]. We have other topics on the agenda as well, which we always do going into the summer break”.
After his consistent Q1 eliminations and crashes, Perez was on thin ice heading into the Hungarian and Belgian GP. However, the Mexican driver had a crash in the former race, which led to another Q1 elimination. While Perez recovered well in the race to finish P7, the pressure on him only grew with media speculations.
At the Belgian GP, the 34-year-old finished P7 [after George Russell’s disqualification], despite starting on the front row. This did not live up to Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko’s expectation, as he stated that Perez “collapsed” on performance in the final stint at Spa.
Helmut Marko was less than impressed by Sergio Perez’s run from second on the grid to eighth on the road by the end of the Belgian GP ❌
Will the result be the end of Perez’s Red Bull F1 career? pic.twitter.com/rzSFlzWiUg
— Autosport (@autosport) July 28, 2024
Regardless, Perez was quite blunt when he faced the media during the entirety of the Belgium weekend. Even after his underwhelming race, the #11 driver stated, “I think I’ve had enough of these speculations. I’ve said everything I had to”.
He mentioned that he is “committed” to the team and will drive at the Dutch GP, and refused to respond to any “future speculations”. Now, Perez has a contract in place, but Red Bull are known to make mid-season driver changes.
Red Bull face a dilemma with Perez
Perez’s Belgian GP performance was a mixed bag, to be fair. His qualifying certainly gave hopes of his return to form. However, finishing eighth on track at the bottom of the top four teams’ drivers is not something Perez would have wanted.
While Red Bull have given him a 1+1 year contract at the Canadian GP itself, they have reportedly also included performance clauses in it. These performance clauses require Perez to be within 100 points of Max Verstappen’s points tally at the summer break and at the end of the season.
Currently, the 34-year-old has 131 points which is 146 points less than Verstappen’s tally atop the standings. Meanwhile, McLaren have closed in on Red Bull in the constructors’ standings too, with a gap of only 42 points after Belgium.
So, the Milton Keynes outfit have a big dilemma on whether they should persist with Perez in the remaining 10 races of the season, or promote someone else. Currently, Daniel Ricciardo is reportedly the strongest contender, due to his prior experience with Red Bull. However, even Liam Lawson is in contention as they both have a test scheduled in Imola this week.
