FIA Places the Final Nail in the Coffin for Sergio Perez’s Red Bull Seat

Sergio Perez had another disastrous outing during the British Grand Prix qualifying session on Saturday as he was knocked out in Q1. The #11 driver lost his RB20 while going into the Copse corner. Since his red-walled soft tires did not comply with the wet run-off area, he went into the gravel trap.

Stuck in the gravel trap, the #11 driver asked his race engineer, Hugh Bird, if the marshalls could use the crane to bump him onto the track. However, Bird advised his driver against it.

This meant he retired from the session and will start the Grand Prix from 19th. But why was Perez not allowed to rejoin the session once the Red Flag period was over?

According to Article 39.6 of the 2024 FIA F1 Sporting Regulations, any car that stops on track during a Qualifying or Sprint Shootout will not be allowed to take any further part in that session. Further, as per Article 26.4 of the regulations, if a driver receives any sort of “mechanical assistance” for re-joining the track, they would be liable to be disqualified from the session altogether.

Article 26.4 deals with general safety and is applicable to Qualifying sessions in accordance with Article 26.2. This is why when Perez asked Bird if he could ask the marshalls to aid him back onto the track, he was asked to jump out of the car and retire instead.

If not for these regulations, the Mexican racing ace could have probably progressed through to Q2 and even Q3. However, with yet another disappointing afternoon under his belt, the #11 driver has started testing Red Bull‘s faith.

Perez could lose his Red Bull seat despite signing a two-year contract extension

McLaren have not let Red Bull rest easy in the fight for the Constructors’ Championship. While Red Bull do have a lead in the standings, it is a fragile one, given how the team are essentially relying on only one driver to score the points.

Perez has only managed to score 15 points in the last five races. Meanwhile, the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have scored a mammoth 138 points between themselves to bring the Woking-based team within touching distance of both Red Bull and Ferrari.

Perez is expected to drop points once again, given his starting grid position for the British GP. Both Helmut Marko and Christian Horner’s words about his performances so far seem to suggest that they may terminate his two-year deal even before this season ends.