Pierre Gasly spent half a season at Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s teammate but couldn’t match up to the Dutchman. He knows about the struggles of being Red Bull’s second driver which is why he has a bold opinion on Verstappen’s current partner Sergio Perez’s shortcomings.
Gasly, who was promoted to the main Red Bull team from Toro Rosso in 2019, saw himself in a similar situation to Perez. His gap to Verstappen was too big and Red Bull sacked him mid-season in favor of Alex Albon. A year later, Albon too, would lose his seat to give way for Perez.
The problem with Perez which Gasly notices the most is that he isn’t in sync with the car. “He just doesn’t seem to be able to get the performance out of it, whether it is coming from him or the team, I don’t know. But there’s clearly something that is missing at the moment between the two,” the Alpine driver said as per Motorsport Week.
Full on-board camera footage of Sergio Perez’s incident that caused a red flag in Q1!#F1 #Formula1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/HKPTsVyfNS
— Extreme Cars (@extremecars__) July 6, 2024
Perez’s inability to match up with Verstappen has him 137 points behind the Dutchman in the Drivers’ Standings, which for Red Bull is unacceptable. The Austrian stable wants to retain its Constructors’ Title. And for that, Perez needs a bigger haul.
There were rumors of Red Bull being on the lookout for his replacement earlier this season but the #11 driver signed a two-year-contract extension instead. However, that doesn’t mean he is safe.
Red Bull’s options for 2025
Red Bull’s primary aim will be to win the Constructors’ Title and have Verstappen win the Drivers’ Championship in 2024. For that, however, they need Perez to step up, failing which the Mexican driver could be fired.
| Sergio Perez is in danger of losing his seat at Red Bull.
If Ricciardo can confirm the recent upward trend at Silverstone, Budapest, and Spa and Perez does not improve significantly, Daniel could replace the Mexican in 2025.
“We’ll know more by the summer break,” says… pic.twitter.com/BMVWV3K9CO
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) July 5, 2024
Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, and Liam Lawson are all linked to the seat, with the latter also taking part in a closed test for Red Bull in Silverstone last Thursday. Unfortunately for him, the test did not go as well as planned, which makes Ricciardo the favorite.
All three options are part of the Red Bull fraternity already and it seems unlikely that they will go outside to get someone from the F1 driver market. If they do, their best option would be Carlos Sainz, who still remains without a seat.
