Sergio Perez came out as a winner in Red Bull’s meeting held after the Belgian GP last week. He will continue as a Red Bull driver, and the team will also change its approach with him. F1 expert Scott Mitchell Malm suggested that Red Bull could make alterations to Perez’s RB20 to help improve his performance, even if it causes problems elsewhere.
On The Race’s F1 podcast, Mitchell Malm suggested that Red Bull could sacrifice its pace. He said,
“I think it is quite likely based on what I’ve heard that there might be some rolling back of upgrades going on. Get the car back into a state where Perez was, I guess, kind of like comfortable and confident in the car”,
Max Verstappen is the only driver to lead over 100 laps in 2024 & has led more laps than the rest of the grid combined.
Meanwhile, Sergio Perez is the only driver from the top 4 teams to not lead a single lap.
Max Verstappen: 448
All other drivers: 397
Sergio Perez: 0 pic.twitter.com/n6iXpVh2WL— Daniel Valente ️ (@F1GuyDan) July 30, 2024
Perez was performing well until the Miami GP, after which Red Bull brought in upgrades to Imola. Since then, his form took a turn for the worse. He hasn’t been able to get up to speed, which isn’t just affecting his results but is hurting Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship.
It is believed that Perez is comfortable with the RB20 being one or two-tenths of a second slower than it currently is. Right now, the car looks snappy under his control, which is why, reverting to an older spec could help the Guadalajara-born driver.
Mitchell-Malm explained how Red Bull’s cars tend to get out of Perez’s control as the season progresses. This happened in 2023 too, which could be down to Red Bull developing the car to Max Verstappen’s liking.
While a driver with Perez’s experience is expected to adapt to changes as they come, Red Bull is ready to make a last-ditch effort to save his career.
Christian Horner and Red Bull reportedly wanted Perez gone. But Liberty Media intervened, pleading with the Austrian stable to retain the 34-year-old, because of his popularity in Latin America and Mexico.
Perez, however, knows he is under pressure. The Constructors’ Championship is on the line. The gap to McLaren is down to just 42 points. And if Perez has a poor spell after the summer break, it could lead to the end of his Red Bull career.
