The 2024 F1 season is a make-or-break year for Sergio Perez in terms of his Red Bull future. In the past, he’s set himself up to challenge his three-time world champion teammate, Max Verstappen but Helmut Marko wanted him to get that idea out of his head. However, after his podium finish at the Bahrain GP last weekend, Perez has set Verstappen as his number-one rival once again.
On the F1 Chequered Flag podcast, Perez spoke about his ambitions, when asked about a potential tussle with Verstappen. “That’s always the aim – the main target,” he said.
This was a bold claim, especially because his last attempt at dethroning Verstappen did not go so well. He was on par with Verstappen in the opening rounds of 2023, which gave him hope for a title-winning campaign. A few mistakes later, he found himself under so much pressure that he struggled for the remainder of the season. This also affected his position at Red Bull, which hangs in balance even now.
Perez completed a Red Bull 1-2 at Bahrain last Saturday, finishing more than 20 seconds behind Verstappen. He was much slower than his teammate in equal machinery. However, Helmut Marko claims that was planned.
For Red Bull, Perez bringing in the points by finishing just behind Verstappen is enough. However, if he fails to do that, his future with the Milton-Keynes-based outfit could be in jeopardy.
Sergio Perez enters crunch time at Red Bull
Not everything is going haywire for Perez, despite him being under pressure. His qualifying performance wasn’t up to the mark, because the RB20 is certainly more capable of finishing higher than P5. But Perez drove a brilliant race, kept his cool, and finished second.
That being said, Perez’s situation should not be gauged based on early season promise. Last year, after the first five rounds of the championship, he was level with Verstappen. That is when things started falling apart. Rumors of him getting the sack started getting stronger every day, owing to his extremely poor qualifying performances.
There are several drivers, including Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, and Liam Lawson who are waiting to get that coveted Red Bull seat. However, if Perez can maintain consistency in terms of results and manages to seal P2 in the driver’s standings, Red Bull might consider extending his contract, which ends in 2024. This is something that even Helmut Marko confirmed.
