Despite five wins from seven races, Red Bull is just 56 points ahead in the constructors’ championship from P2. While maintaining the second spot, Ferrari has lost some momentum to McLaren. Still, both their drivers finished in the top 5 continuing their consistent points scoring run. Keeping in mind Sergio Perez’s output at the Imola GP and his qualifying output in 2023, an F1 expert, Tim Hauraney believes Red Bull is not on course to win the championship.
Despite a strong start to the season, Perez is back to his shoddy performances in qualifying. This was a big concern for the Red Bull bosses in 2023 and exactly what threatened his future.
So, despite the struggles of the RB20 in Imola, Hauraney believes the Mexican needs to get significantly closer to Max Verstappen. If not, the team is on course of losing out on the constructor’s championship.
On the Nailing the Apex podcast, he said, “If you’re Christian Horner and you’re taking a look at the grid and you’re taking a look at your Constructors’ Championship and you want to try and win another Constructors’ Championship, I got news for you.”
“It’s, it’s not happening right now, because at the moment Red Bull Racing 268 points after this, after this race victory, Ferrari right there with 212.”, said Hauraney.
Ferrari is right on their tails and even McLaren is catching up in the overall standings. In Imola, Red Bull picked up 29 points from the race. McLaren was one point ahead with 30 and the Ferrari men collected 25 points. However, Red Bull’s hail was because of Verstappen’s brilliance; Perez’s contribution was only 4 points. These differences in outputs will add up and might cost the Austrian team toward the end.
How Sergio Perez can cost Red Bull the constructor’s championship
In a scenario where Verstappen doesn’t win every race moving forward, which is becoming increasingly likely, Sergio Perez needs to improve his performance. As established earlier, the title fight could be between three teams now. So, at any given weekend, the six drivers of the top three teams will be under pressure to give their best until the very end.
This is why Perez’s consistency is crucial. Unlike 2023, the Mexican needs to consistently finish in the top half of the points-scoring places. If not, his rivals will slowly chip away in the table. His contribution has become more crucial now because his teammate doesn’t look as invincible as he did in the previous campaign.
Now more than ever, Red Bull needs wins and podiums from the Mexican. He managed a few in the opening few rounds. However, in the last couple of race weekends, the #11 driver hasn’t looked up to the task. Moving forward, a Q2 exit won’t be acceptable and will put the team in an extremely difficult position.
