Veteran journalist Joe Saward has hit back at fans for “insulting” him after he revealed how Red Bull will continue to scrutinize the future of Sergio Perez in 2024. The Briton stated that he is just revealing the facts and has no intentions of hurting the feelings of Perez’s fans.
On receiving criticisms from the fans, Saward took to X and wrote, “I’m bored with Perez fans insulting me because they don’t like the stories I report. If I didn’t believe the articles I wouldn’t write them“.
I’m bored with Perez fans insulting me because they don’t like the stories I report. If I didn’t believe the articles I wouldn’t write them.
— Joe Saward (@joesaward) December 1, 2023
Saward created quite the stir on social media after he claimed in his blog that Perez’s future remains under serious threat. The Briton journalist claimed that sources have told him that Red Bull will keep a close eye on the 33-year-old during the early part of the 2024 campaign.
Saward then also added that if Perez were to underperform, Red Bull could replace him with Daniel Ricciardo. The 62-year-old journalist notes that there is a clause in the Australian’s contract that would allow him to step into that second seat at Red Bull if the team decides to replace Perez at any point in the season.
Sergio Perez’s loss could be Daniel Ricciardo’s biggest gain
In his same report, Joe Saward noted that Red Bull have big plans for Daniel Ricciardo. The British journalist mentioned that the Milton Keynes outfit will consider tripling the Australian’s salary if they decide to promote him to that second seat alongside Max Verstappen.
As for Sergio Perez, losing the second seat at Red Bull will not be his only loss. In fact, Saward believes that the Milton Keynes outfit will then promote Liam Lawson to that second seat at AlphaTauri instead of Ricciardo.
This means that Perez will find himself without a drive if he is unable to prove his worth with Red Bull next year. Hence, Perez cannot afford to have the same kind of struggles he did over the course of the 2023 campaign.