Sources Close to Max Verstappen Reveals the Dutchman’s Management Wants to Get Rid of Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez is having a disappointing 2023 season with Red Bull so far. There have been widespread speculations about the Mexican driver being dropped from the team due to his underwhelming performances, and with the return of Daniel Ricciardo to F1, the rumors have only strengthened. Amidst all of these, reports have emerged that Max Verstappen‘s management does not want Perez at Red Bull either.

According to Rob Kamphues who is an analyst at Ziggo Sport, the management of Verstappen wants Perez out. Kamphues reported that as per Andre Venema, the editor-in-chief of Formule1.nl, things got heated up between Perez and Verstappen following their coming together in Austria.

Así el arranque de la Carrera Sprint en Austria, desde las onboard de Verstappen y Pérez.

🤐pic.twitter.com/H1EHs8mN1v

— 🏁【 Alerta F1 】🏁 (@AlertaF1) July 1, 2023

To make things worse, Perez isn’t really making a strong case for himself with the machinery that he has been provided with. He crashed out on his first lap during FP1 in Hungary, costing his team at least $250,000. On top of that, he could only muster P9 in the RB19, the same car in which Verstappen claimed P2, losing pole position by just 0.003 seconds.

The Max Verstappen – Sergio Perez cold war

According to Autoblog.nl, the cold war between Verstappen and Perez started off in 2022 itself when Perez spun out in Monaco, denying Verstappen the pole position and consequentially, the race win.

It was pretty evident that their relationship turned sour when Verstappen refused to let his teammate pass him in Brazil last season, even after he had wrapped up the championship title. In contrast, Perez desperately needed the points to overcome the threat of Charles Leclerc taking up P2 in the championship standings.

Checo Perez on Max Verstappen not giving him the position in Brazil:

🗣 “I’m very surprised, I don’t know what happened, especially for everything I’ve done for him. I think if he has 2 championships it’s thanks to me.” pic.twitter.com/pUfBCkKxy5#BrazilGP #F1

— Comrade (@ComradeKE) November 13, 2022

Even though it seems like Verstappen does not really care about who drives next to him, Perez might have gotten himself in trouble by being a bit too aggressive at times. To make matters worse, Verstappen has openly spoken about his desire to team up with Ricciardo once more.

Perez could fall victim to the Ruthless Red Bull management

Perez’s situation has been worsened by the fact that Verstappen has gone ahead and made claims that he alone is enough to win the constructor’s championship for Red Bull. To be fair, Verstappen, ahead of the Hungarian GP, had 255 points alone, while Mercedes, who are P2 in the constructor’s championship, only have 203 points.

🗣️| Domenicali on Verstappen dominance and him “characterize an era”

“Max is fully deserving of the success he’s enjoying, you have to take your hat off.

For the new fans, it’s important to have icons who become representative of the sport, the driver to characterize an era.” pic.twitter.com/q2V2612BZh

— RBR News 🇳🇱🇲🇽 (@redbulletin) July 14, 2023

On top of that, Red Bull are known to be quite ruthless while making decisions about their drivers. Nyck De Vries was the latest victim as he was sacked after only having 10 races to prove his worth, as a rookie.

Therefore, it won’t be a surprise if the Milton-Keynes-based outfit decides to let go of Perez. If the 33-year-old fails to improve his performance, then the drivers like Daniel Ricciardo are waiting to fill in the coveted Red Bull seat.