The coming weekend in Spa will be highly significant for a number of the Formula One drivers taking part. Being the final race before the summer break this is traditionally the time where teams make driver evaluations and plan their future line ups.

Number one in the uncertainty stakes is Sergio Perez whose early season form has disappeared. There were signs though in hungary that Sergio was enjoying the new Red Bull upgrades as he raced through the field from P16 to finish two slots behind Verstappen in P7.

George Russell who started behind Perez in Budapest appeared surprised at the speed of the Mexican driver: “His pace was surprisingly good, to be honest,” Russell told assembled media. “Following his recent form, we didn’t expect to be in a fight with him.

 

 

 

Improved race for Checo in Hungary

“His pace was almost in line with Max’s but the damage was done [during qualifying]. That is how it should be in the sport – you make mistakes and you get punished.”

Yet with McLaren moving ever closer to Red Bull in the constructors’ championship a good outing in Hungary and Belgium may not be enough to save his seat for the remainder of the season at Red Bull.

Its been widely reported that Red Bull have a clause in Perez’s contract which means they can dismiss him should his points tally be over 100 less than his team mate come the beginning of August. It currently stands at 141 which cannot be recouped at Spa Francorchamps.

However, ditching Perez will have implications for the Red Bull team in terms of his payoff and other factors. ESPN claim the cost of severing the contract with Checo stands at $5m, however should McLaren close the 51 gap deficit to Red Bull as it stands, the cost to the word champions of coming second in the team competition is around $10m.

Red Bull simulations predict SHOCK for Verstappen in Spa

 

 

 

Checo tops crash damage costs

But in addition the Milton Keynes based team would lose out on considerable sponsorship from Sergio’s backers which include deals with Disney, Telcel, Nescafe and KitKat. Whilst not of the order of the $100m Oracle team sponsorship deal, they cold add up to a total in the order of $30m plus.

Yet balanced against these losses, Red Bull must consider the fact they stand to lose a similar amount in lost bonuses should they finish second from the team’s various direct partners. One further item in the calculation is the cost of Sergio’s many crashes this year.

It was estimated following the Canadian Grand Prix that Checo topped the cost of crashes table following the Canadian Grand Prix, reported at around $3m after the Canadian Grand Prix. That number will have climbed since then with a huge shunt in Q1 last time out in Hungary along with other lesser repair costs which have escalated in Spain, Austria and at Silverstone.

While the balance of losing Perez to gain a constructors’ title may create a ‘financial deficit’ for Red Bull Racing, the team’s focus is on history and 2024 would see their total team championships climb to seven. This would be just one behind Mercedes, who whiles the ‘Johnny come lately’ to the F1 party, succeeded in winning eight in a row following the introduction of their all conquering V6 hybrid power unit in 2014.

Verstappen calls for “respect” from engineer

 

 

 

Marko and Horner at odds over drivers

Red Bull politics will play a part in the decision to sack or retain Perez and the rift which has developed Christian Horner and Dr. Helmut Marko will make this doubly difficult to agree.

It is believed Christian Horner wanted Helmut Marko to retire at the end of 2023, although the 81 year old Austrian earned another twelve month contract. This was extended recently to 2026 in an attempt to pacify the agitated Max Verstappen who has made veiled threats he could leave Red Bull before his contract ends in 2028.

Last season having replaced Pierre Gasly with Nyck de Vries, Red Bull were forced to let the Dutch driver go after performing poorly in the first ten race weekends. Dr. Marko was forced to admit he got this recruitment wrong and that Christian Horner had been right  about De Vries who is a Formula E champion driver.

Marko was also not impressed with Horner bringing back Daniel Ricciardo as a reserve driver, though was forced to eat his words following a test in Silverstone last summer. The Aussie laid down a time in the RB19 which the Red Bull boss claims would have placed him on the front row of the grid in the preceding British Grand Prix.

New agreement: Verstappen banned

 

 

 

Helmut dismisses Ricciardo option

Yet since then, Daniel has struggled to overcome Yuki Tsunoda, though in recent races his form has been better when the team don’t ruin his race with poor strategy.

In his column this week for Speedweek, Dr. Marko chose to emphasise the Red Bull junior drivers and that he has booked a flight to London for showdown talks with Christian Horner about the two teams future driver lineup.

When Perez was awarded a new contract earlier in the season, Marko took the opportunity to suggest Ricciardo’s future was now bleak. “The goal was that (Ricciardo) would be considered for Red Bull Racing with exceptional performances,” Marko said last month.

“That seat now belongs to Sergio Perez, so that plan is no longer valid. We will have to put a young driver in there soon. That would be Liam Lawson.”

F1 team on the brink of “collapse”

 

 

 

Red Bull juniors ‘bigged up’

Yet with Perez’s immediate future now in doubt, the 81 year old Austrian makes a pitch for his young driver programme rather than trying to relive the past glories of Daniel Ricciardo when driving for the Red Bull team.

“The teams are also afraid of juniors,” he wrote. ”Of course, they make mistakes, but I’d rather someone makes mistakes and is a hope for the future than there is no more improvement.”

In terms of Red bull’s own crop of youngsters, Marko continued: “During the summer break, we will analyse and evaluate the performance of the Red Bull juniors in more detail. (Isack) Hadjar took the lead in the F2 standings with his victory in the feature at Silverstone, we mustn’t forget that he was unlucky several times, there was the engine failure, then the reserve engine that didn’t work and then the two fuel supply failures and twice he was also spun out through no fault of his own. Otherwise he would have been miles ahead in the championship.

“Lindblad shone in Formula 3, having stepped up directly from Formula 4 to Formula 3 as a rookie and winning both races. He is only 16 years old and we are delighted that you can now drive Formula 1 again at 17. But we’re staying calm and continuing to produce good results with our juniors, who are now enjoying more priority again and are also allowed to drive Formula 1 cars.

Official: Haas unveil Magnussen replacement

 

 

 

Strange remark about under 18 yrs F1 drivers

“Isack did well in his most recent test, he never had the soft tyres on the car, but he showed strong performances. Isack and Arvid have extremely good qualities, they are super fast and have Formula 1 quality. Though we mustn’t forget Ayumu Iwasa either, who is currently in second place in the Super Formula in Japan.”

Marko is clearly hoping to promote Lindbled before the end of next season given by 2026 he will be 18 years of age and the FIA special permissions would not be required.

The Red Bull advisor doesn’t even mention Liam Lawson who the Austrian has promised a full time drive for 2025 and beyond.

Hulkenberg addresses “instability” at Audi

 

 

 

FIA rookie driver F1 Sprint events considere

There were concerns early this season that Formula One was in fact slitting into two divisions with the top five teams in Red all, McLaren, Mercedes Ferrari and Aston Martin locking out the rest from scoring points by finishing in the top ten.

The teams were told at the F1 commission meeting in April to go away and consider an expanded points system awarding a score to drivers finishing in the top twelve race classification positions. Following the most recent meeting in London this week, the F1 commission has announced it was decided to scrap the new proposals “unanimously.”

Other motor racing series award points to more than half the field and it has been a bone of contention for some time the lack of opportunity for the lesser teams to score in F1. Stake Sauber are the only team yet to get off the mark this year but the constructors’ table now looks less like two separate divisions of competitors with Haas F1 and RB often out qualifying and out scoring Aston Martin more frequently… READ MORE