Things haven’t been really smooth between Sergio Perez and Red Bull in the last few days. Amidst rumors claiming that team does not want to continue with Perez for 2024, as per a report by GP Blog, Red Bull’s new $42 special edition merchandise for Sergio Perez has backfired as well.
Perez has had an extremely disappointing 2023 season, failing to come close to the levels set by his teammate throughout the year. Even though the Mexican had a good start to the season, after four races, things started to go downhill and never looked up again.
Alpine’s merch for the Mexican GP Vs Red Bull’s merch for the Mexican GP
Castore…… 😬🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/udHJN6Eo5c
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) October 15, 2023
This led to widespread speculations regarding his future with Red Bull – a team well known for their impatience with their drivers. As per the latest rumors, Red Bull have already told Perez that they wouldn’t be continuing with him for 2024.
Red Bull’s special merchandise for Sergio Perez has a poor design choice
Amidst all of the rumors, Red Bull recently came up with a special edition merchandise, celebrating the home race of Sergio Perez. However, the design of the merchandise hasn’t sat well with the Mexican fans who believe that Red Bull should have done better.
2 camisas de aquí representan más el GP de México que ni la merch que le sacaron al piloto cuyo GP es el de casa 💀 pic.twitter.com/tzJSHZ32ii
— spooky ara 🎃 (@checosvlog) October 13, 2023
The main design element in the merchandise is a Cactus, which seems to be the root of all the problems. Mexican fans believe that there are much better symbols that represent the Mexican culture, including the likes of Papel Picado, Day of the Dead or even a Marigold.
Red Bull might end up losing a huge chunk of their sales
Mexican fans account for about 65% of all merchandise sales for Red Bull. This number will surely take a hit with the fans disapproving of the latest merchandise design.
These are the same fans who have already been disgruntled by the way Helmut Marko and company has treated Perez for the past few months. Therefore, Red Bull will probably end up losing a huge market if things go further south between them and Perez.
The former Racing Point driver still has a chance of saving his seat for 2024. If he manages to hold on to the second place in the Driver’s championship, he might get another chance at Red Bull.
