While Lewis Hamilton had his swan song Mercedes day in the sun at the Formula One British Grand Prix, Red Bull were ruing a weekend where it all went wrong again. Despite the issues facing the world champions, Max Verstappen in fact extended his lead in the drivers’ championship over his main rivals as Ferrari bungled Charles Leclerc’s strategy as did McLaren for Norris.

Sergio Perez had another horrible weekend which began with his spin in Q1 which saw him relegated to the back of the grid. Given the lowly starting position, Red Bull decided to give Sergio a new power unit and so the Mexican started the race from the pitlane with a modified car set up to come through the field.

McLaren looked favourites in the opening stint of the race to claim a 1-2 at their home Grand Prix but a com nation of bad luck and poor strategy calls saw Norris fade towards the end of the race.

 

 

 

Checo strategy gamble

Red Bull took gambles with Sergio’s strategy pitting him early for the wet weather tyres, but the rain stubbornly refused to fall for a number of laps after Checo and Charles Leclerc made the same call. Yet the result again was zero points for Perez who now has just 15 points from the last six races and again the chasing McLaren driver duo closed the gap in the constructors’ championship.

Leaving Silverstone last season the Red Bull lead over second place Mercedes was 207 points and what a difference a year has made given the world champions technically extended their lead of second place Ferrari to 71 points, but Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri continued to close the gap and the papaya liveried team are now just seven points behind the Maranello squad.

Again the media hounds were on there Red Bull boss’s case over the shocking performance of Perez, questioning the sustainability of his position. Sky F1’s ex-driver commentator Karen Chandhok was the first to question Horner over the future of their Mexican driver.

“A little birdy tells me that Liam Lawson’s doing a filming day in the near future, he’s also got a tyre test coming up with AlphaTauri [Visa Cash App RB], are these auditions?

“I mean, you guys ran Daniel [Ricciardo] last year as an audition and stuck him in a race seat, what’s going on?”

Marko responds to rumours of engine problems at Red Bull

 

 

 

Testing similarities to last season

Ricciardo did participate a Pirelli tyre test in the days following the 2023 British Grand Prix in Verstappen’s RB19 and it was reported his times were good enough for P2 in the previous week’s qualifying, something which catapulted his return to F1 after being sacked by McLaren.

Rumours have been in abundance this weekend that Sergio has just two races remaining before the summer break to save his career with Red Bull or he will be ditched in favour of Daniel Ricciardo while Liam Lawson will replace the Aussie at the Racing Bulls team.

Horner was candid with Chandhok stating: “Well look, those tests have been planned for some time, they’re not something that have just sprung up.

“They’ve been planned for a couple of months now, so Liam [Lawson] is our test and reserve driver, that’s his job but I think Checo [Perez], it’s been a horrible weekend for him.

“We took some risks, we went for a set of inters with the first bit of rain expecting a bit more to come.”

Steiner hits out at Newey Ferrari move

 

 

 

Sainz patience points to decision coming

Horner observed Ferrari made a similar call for Charles Leclerc who was also lurking in the lower half of the race order but the rain refused to increase in intensity  costing both Checo and the M Monegasque almost a complete pit stop in lost time.

“It was one of those calls where you can either win a lot or lose a lot and unfortunately Checo lost a lot at that point. But, the pace just wasn’t quite there today.”

Perez has raced four seasons for Red Bull since the Stroll’s rolled into town and ditched him from the then Racing Point Silverstone based squad. Yet the bell is tolling to announce the end of Checo’s career with Red Bull and it is merely a matter of when not if the world champion’s decided to make a switch.

The fact Carlos Sainz is yet waiting to decided on his future team despite receiving offers from Sauber/Audi, Williams and Alpine is testament to the fact Perez’s fate is sealed. The Spaniard sacked by Ferrari for the incoming Lewis Hamilton has stubbornly refused to commit to any of the offers made because there is potentially a better option around the corner.

FIA face heavy criticism across the paddock

 

 

 

Perez results “unsustainable” says his boss

Whilst Sainz would finish the year with the Scuderia while Ricciardo steps up to be bench mark tested alongside his old rival Max Verstappen, Red Bull would known within two races whether bringing back Daniel to their top team was something that was going to work.

Horner concluded his chat with Chandhok stating: “He [Perez] knows it’s unsustainable to not be scoring points. We have to be scoring points and he knows that. He knows his role and his target and so nobody is more eager than Checo to get back.”

Before the cars hit the track in Northamptonshire, the Red Bull team boss had been defensive when questioned over whether the team signed up Sergio too early. His results in the first five Grand Prix of the season had been reasonable and the Mexican driver sat in second place to his team mate Max Verstappen.

Sainz to join Alpine

 

 

 

Horner implies exit clauses close

Martin Brundle openly asked Horner if Red Bull made a mistake extending the Mexican driver’s deal early, to which the team boss replied: “That’s a brutally hard question, Martin.

“But, of course, the point that you sign a driver, the contents of any agreement are not going to be disclosed to all of you lot. 

“So it made absolute sense to sign Checo at that point in time. But this is a business in which there are pressures to deliver.”

These words have widely been interpreted to imply there is a performance clause in Perez’s contract which will define the case where Red bull have grounds to sack the Mexican driver due to a lack of results.

“Lack of respect”, Brown hammers Horner’s Red Bull Racing

 

 

 

Ricciardo SLAMS RB

Daniel Ricciardo is in a strange Formula One place currently. He is the only one of the four Red Bull drivers not to have been awarded with a contract for next season despite beating his team mate win the last three Grand Prix. Yet far from being in a precarious position, the eight times Grand Prix winner looks set to receive an offer from the Williams team who want an experienced driver to replace the hapless Logan Sargeant.

Team boss James Vowles set his sights on signing Carlos Sainz to join the rebuild programme he is heading up at Grove, yet the inordinate delay the Spaniard has created while considering his future options appears to have seen him ruled out of Williams future plans with the team casting their net further afield… READ MORE