Despite starting the year on a superb note, Sergio Perez fell short of his expectations as the season went by. After four races, the Mexican driver was at par with Max Verstappen, but now he stands far off in terms of Championship standings. The downfall in his performance has put the 33-year-old under serious pressure. And now, he got a stern warning to be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo next year, as per reports.
As Verstappen already sealed the championship this season, there are eyes on the next best position, and that is P2. Given how dominant the RB-19 is this year, there is an obvious target for Perez to finish in P2.
A weekend where nothing worked out for us, first of all I want to thank my entire @redbullracing team very much for getting my car ready on time, we have the best mechanics in the world.
Let’s think about the closing, there are still 5 very important races left and we are going… pic.twitter.com/UOT0PCkqlQ
— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) October 8, 2023
However, due to his dip in form, he is seeing incredible resistance from Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who are pursuing him from P3 and P4, respectively. Therefore, if the Mexican star fails to live up to his expectations, Ricciardo is expected to take his place amid his mega resurgence this year.
Will Red Bull replace Sergio Perez for Ricciardo next year?
A report emerged of a driver swap in Red Bull next year if Perez fails to maintain his P2. If he cannot, the Austrian team will look to bring Ricciardo from AlphaTauri alongside Verstappen.
On this, a tweet on X reported, “According to Rafael Lopes, a renowned F1 expert, and Luciano Burti, sources informed them that Red Bull has already given Pérez the ultimatum: if he loses the runner-up this year, @danielricciardo takes the Mexican seat in 2024!”
Daniel Ricciardo in an event in Nashville, one week before the US GP: “I am back” 👀
🎶 Here is Daniel singing ‘Wagon Wheel’ #F1 pic.twitter.com/Dv7Zhb34bo
— Ahmet Cir (@AhmetCirF1) October 14, 2023
As the 33-year-old failed to make amends on back-to-back races, rumors of his exit from Red Bull increased significantly. Amid the reports of his sacking, he recently revealed that as he got faster, it made things worse for him.
Amid tough times, Perez revealed the latest difficulty
As Sergio Perez is not having the best times at Red Bull, his latest revelation startled many experts and fans alike. The Red Bull driver said that as he got faster, things started to get tough for him.
The former Racing Point driver stated that after he got the floor that made his RB-19 significantly faster, he felt an incredible challenge to control his car. Therefore, it resulted in losing control and amassing time penalties for crossing track limits.
After this, Perez also pleaded to go back to his Spanish GP set-up; however, he was denied. Amid this, there were rumors of his retirement at this year’s Mexican Grand Prix. This, however, was debunked eventually.
