Max Verstappen’s lap-three DNF at the Australian GP today exposed Sergio Perez’s apparent inability to perform in the Red Bull. Despite being in arguably the best car on the grid, the #11 driver was not able to catch the McLarens and Ferraris during the Grand Prix at Albert Park. As Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc made it a Ferrari 1-2, ending Verstappen’s dominant streak, F1 journalist Henry Benjamin and former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley have asked the Bulls to reconsider their stance on retaining Perez.
Benjamin said on BBC’s F1: Chequered Flag podcast, “Today’s race unfortunately confirmed that [Sergio] Perez isn’t the right man to be in that #2 seat at Red Bull.”
To this, Priestley explained, “It’s really highlighted a problem that when the other teams like Ferrari and McLaren start coming closer and closer to Red Bull, and they will – then they need two drivers who have a reasonable level of performance to be able to deliver those points, week in week out.”
The Australian GP result showed just how good Max Verstappen can be and how he has seemingly covered up for Perez‘s lack of pace in the last two seasons. With the Mexican driver struggling today, Ferrari were able to close up on the Bulls in the Constructors’ championship. As things stand, they are only 4 points off of the Milton-Keynes-based team.
After the opening two rounds of the season, it seemed as though Perez was doing enough to keep his seat at the team beyond this year. But his inability to step up and fill in for Verstappen may lead the team to start looking elsewhere come 2025.
Sergio Perez is driving for his future in 2024
During the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs, Perez’s results seemingly instilled confidence in the #11 driver. He was able to cover the threat from the rivals around him and while Verstappen went on to win both races, he slotted in right behind his teammate, in P2.
However, during the Australian GP, Verstappen’s race ended only three laps into the Grand Prix owing to a mechanical failure that resulted in his right rear brakes exploding as he limped into the pit lane. That’s when Perez was expected to show up and put the pace to the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. In the end, the 34-year-old could only manage P5.
Post-race, Perez explained the reasons for his troubles. He said (as quoted by Grandprix.com), “It wasn’t a nice balance out there, it was a bit of surviving mode with the degradation we had, and we didn’t match up to Ferrari or McLaren. The grid penalty also harmed us because without that we could have ended up a lot further up. I think today was track-dependent, so hopefully when we go to Japan we are back on top.”
With Perez struggling, many names have come up as possible replacements for him next season. Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda are in the running for that 2nd Red Bull seat. Although, after his sensational comeback victory in Melbourne, Christian Horner has also confirmed Carlos Sainz as a potential candidate to become Max Verstappen’s teammate.
