Sergio Perez has been put under immense pressure after losing his chance to fight Max Verstappen for the title this season. Additionally, while Perez struggled, Mercedes improved. Lewis Hamilton now breathes down Perez’s neck and should Perez cave- he is warned of losing his seat.
For a brief moment, Perez was the only man who could pose an actual threat to the championship leader. However, a series of mistakes saw Checo lose his grip, and is now 125 points behind Verstappen. Only just clinging to the much sought-after Red Bull seat, he is also holding on for dear life to his P2 position in the championship.
Lewis Hamilton is a man on a mission, which is bad news for the struggling Red Bull driver. As questions arise about Perez’s worthiness of the Red Bull seat, Sky Sports pundit Natalie Pinkham gives him a fair shock of reality ahead of the second half of the season.
Sergio Perez needs to beat Lewis Hamilton to be safe
In conversation with her co-hosts on the Sky F1 podcast, Pinkham was asked who she thinks would finish second in the championship. While the easy answer would have been Checo, Pinkham thought outside the box for her answer. “It’s controversial but I’m going to say Lewis Hamilton will finish runner-up.”
Explaining her unexpected standpoint, Pinkham clarified that Fernando Alonso is out of the picture as the ‘Aston Martin decent run of form is over.’ While the team in green fell down the order, the Mercedes upgrades have boosted Hamilton into what was once Alonso’s shot at glory.
Thus, should Hamilton excel and overtake Perez, it will not bode well for the Mexican driver. “If Perez doesn’t finish runner-up, he should lose his seat.” A firm and hard-hitting statement, Pinkham justified her opinion. “This is an unbelievable piece of machinery and I do believe that Perez has the ability, the talent to do it.”
Hitting the final nail in the coffin, she declared, “If he doesn’t, then I’m afraid that is the end of his career at Red Bull.” However, despite her criticism, she holds the hope that Checo will pull it off “because he has the talent and the car to do it, but I’m just being controversial.”
Red Bull lays down objectives for Perez
As Perez moves into the danger zone, Christian Horner makes his expectations clear. Making it clear that a championship is not in the books, Horner mirrors Pinkham’s statements.
“It’s about him maximizing his own performance, not losing out to any of the drivers behind, and trying to pick up a few wins between now and the end of the year.”
And so Perez has to do everything he can to get that P2 in the bag. If he fails, it will not be a pleasant conversation at Milton Keynes.
