With a lot of commotion around Sergio Pere’s seat on the team, fresh reports state that Perez will be getting a sort of special treatment from Red Bull. Perez is currently locked in with a $10,000,000 per annum paycheck and a contract that extends to the end of the 2024 season. However, his paper ensures that he won’t follow the usual path assigned to Red Bull rejects.
Red Bull top dogs Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have been open about their praise for the driver. However, honesty is a fickle word in F1. Contracts get terminated, and drivers get thrown into the deep end. And Red Bull is infamous for this.
Good feeling to start on the front row again!
What a great team effort. Let’s go for more!¡Que bien se siente volver a primera fila!
Gran esfuerzo del equipo. ¡Vamos por más!#SP11 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/e2bgIKem7K— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) July 28, 2023
Additionally, with Checo having more problematic race weekends over successful ones, Max Verstappen continues to raise the bar. And in a sport where your teammate is your greatest rival, it could mean the end of your career. Nyck de Vries is a stellar example of this.
Red Bull promise to be different with Sergio Perez
The Second-seat curse follows the formula of Red Bull getting rid of Verstappen’s teammates in a convenient way. Perez’s predecessors, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly followed this trend.
Usually, drivers are shipped off to AlphaTauri should they not live up to the expectations of the team. Even older drivers like Daniil Kyvat were moved to Torro Rosso to make way for Verstappen.
However, Perez will be immune to this. In a recent interview with Motorsport.com, Helmut Marko stated, “Pérez doesn’t have the same contract.”
Regardless, soon after stating the same, Marko jumped to praising Verstappen. “Max is an exceptional pilot. You can see its capacity in the car… So this guy has so much talent, speed and through these successes, he is floating in the seventh heat and no one would look good by his side.”
In doing so, Marko removed Perez from the conversation. Instead, Marko named the only two drivers who have truly challenged Verstappen this season. “Ironically, it is the two ‘old’, Hamilton and Alonso, who are closest to him. But we don’t want this pressure and political struggle in the team.”
Christian Horner reassures Checo
Ahead of the Belgian GP, team principal Christian Horner was asked for his two cents on the situation. For Horner, the solution isn’t to get rid of the driver but to help him.
In conversation with Fox Sports, Horner stated, “Of course, Checo has his secure place for next season. We are working with him to get him back to the level he showed a few races ago, for example in Saudi Arabia.”
The front row for Sunday 🤝 #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/eBunuHrA7N
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 28, 2023
Ending all rumors surrounding the situation, Horner made a firm statement. “We are not thinking of other plans, just that Checo races for us.”
And so, Perez can breathe a sigh of relief. The threat doesn’t exist, but that only means he needs to reassert himself on the track. Driving beside Verstappen calls for greatness and nothing less.
