Red Bull’s head of young driver development, Dr Helmut Marko, has criticised Sergio Perez’s performance at the Formula 1 French Grand Prix, and slams the Mexican driver for his recent performances including the loss of third place in France.
Sergio Perez did not do better than fourth place at the French Grand Prix. Worse still, he did not reach the podium for the third time in four races. A fall from grace after his win at Monaco. This time the Red Bull driver was caught out in the final laps by a computer glitch whilst under the virtual safety car restart.
While the race was supposed to resume, the green flag did not come out on the Red Bull dash, causing a delay. After a few seconds of waiting, the race finally resumed, allowing George Russell to surprise Sergio Perez for third place. The Mexican was caught napping…
Helmut Marko, the senior Red Bull boss who is responsible for the young drivers at the Austrian team, did not mince his words after the French Grand Prix:
“He must have slept or drank too much Tequila the night before. A podium that was stupidly lost.”
This is the second time in two races that Marko has attacked Checo Perez. In Austria, the Mexican was taken out on the first lap by George Russell, which did not please the former Austrian driver:
“We said before the start ‘don’t try the outside in this corner, it’s not possible. It was simply not necessary. We have seen this before. It doesn’t work…”
A situation that could quickly become complicated for Sergio Perez, as he announced that he was still fighting for the title, and his team-mate is putting in a string of good performances. Surely now Perez must realise he is the defacto number two in Max’s team.
MORE F1 NEWS: Ferrari war brewing between the drivers and the team
The 2022 French GP may have been the last we see for the immediate future as the Paul Ricard contract expires with F1 this season. The Castellet circuit contract is unlikely to be renewed due to poor infrastructure for the fans and a capacity of merely 70,000 spectators on race day. Further, the teams have refused to agree to more than 24 races a season and with the introduction of Las Vegas and the hopeful reintroduction of Shanghai, European races will need to be shed.
The final race at the Paul Ricard circuit was a fascinating battle between two different car design concepts. The initial portion of the race saw the high downforce Ferrari of Charles Leclerc hold off the far quicker low downforce Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
Yet as is too often the case this season, Ferrari threw away a winning hand when Charles Leclerc comfortably in front lost traction and went flying into the barrier.
To make matters worse, Carlos Sainz who had started P19 due to engine penalties had fought his way into the top three and was closing on Lewis Hamilton when the team decided to…. READ MORE ON THIS STORY
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
Marko another Jackass Team owner insulting his driver in public and even making a racist remark to boot.
Really distasteful Marko
Make sure your car works correctly before you slam your drivers
They’re doing much better than you ever did
Marko is indeed a Jackass that always pretended to treat the drivers equally
We all knew Perez should not have went on the outside, even Perez knows that now. But how can someone who is meant to be a leader scowl at his drivers like that? Maybe if he had the same car as he had to start with he may not have to worry. His car seems slow compared to max. Can’t it just be the driver who is faster? Remember when Lewis was faster others said his car was faster than his team mate. And wouldn’t admit it was the driver