Sergio Perez was under pressure last season to deliver Red Bull their first 1-2 in the drivers’ championship. A recovery of form after the summer break saw the Mexican regain second slot and hold of both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to the end of the year.

Checo’s early for this year appeared to suggest he had conquered his demons and after the first six rounds he was slotted in behind Max Verstappen in the title race. A run of shocking results stunning from poor qualifying has seen Perez score just 28 points in the last eight rounds and the Mexican driver has slipped all the way down to P8 in the championship.

Briefings were rife before the summer break this year that Perez was finished as a driver for the world champion team as Daniel Ricciardo was expected to replace him at Red Bull with Liam Lawson filling in behind at V-CARB.

 

 

 

Red Bull hastily decide to keep Perez

Yet less than 24 hours after the chequered flag fell in Belgium, Red Bull announced there would be no change on their driver line up come the next round in Zandvoort. A number of reports outlined that Liberty Media had put pressure on Red Bull to retain Perez given the importance of the up and coming Mexican Grand Prix.

In his column in Speedweek, Dr. Helmut Marko rubbishes this idea stating: “Reports that [Pérez’s] continued commitment is due to Liberty Media’s desire for him to race in Mexico are not true. They certainly want him to race in his home race, but our choice of driver is not based on Liberty Media’s intentions.”

While Max Verstappen set the quickest time during qualifying in the last race in Spa, Perez was vastly improved posting a time just 0,011 slower than Charles Leclerc in second place. He was bumped up to the front row of the grid following a ten place grid drop penalty for Max Verstappen after he exceeded his allowed amount of power unit components for the year.

Yet come race day, hopes the Mexican could deliver his best result since his third place podium back in China faded. Checo was to slip down through the field and crossed the line in eight before George Russell was disqualified and Perez was promoted to P7.

Marko shock change of heart over Piastri/Norris

 

 

 

‘Checo doesn’t need to be faster’

“Pérez doesn’t need to get faster, just more consistent,” writes Marko. “He has also shown good performances from time to time, and at the last race weekend in Spa he was very quick on Saturday, finishing third.

“He was allowed to start from position 2 and, according to the calculations, third place would have been possible.

“But we saw that his tyres had deteriorated significantly more. He couldn’t push, and on top of that, we only had two sets of medium tyres and one set of hard compound, while the competition had two sets of hard and one set of medium tyres. That was perhaps a decisive factor.”

Yet Max Verstappen had the same tyre allocation for his RB20 and he was able to come through the field to finish in fourth, three places ahead of his team mate who started nine places ahead of Perez. The excuses keep coming, but the results are not following.

Italian media: Newey to Aston confirmed

 

 

 

Ricciardo’s hopes dashed

This year Checo’s result are crucial to Red Bull retaining the constructors’ titled with each passing race McLaren are closing down their lead. Whilst the papaya pair have won less races than Red Bull, their combined finishing position has become almost always better than Red Bull, and at their rate of closing McLaren should lead the title race come the USGP in Austin.

Yet for now Marko added, “given the alternatives, [Pérez] is still our best solution”. Of course this can not be taken as a slap in the face for Ricciardo whose hope going into the summer shut down was he would be receiving the call to come up on high.

“I’ll definitely leave the phone on,” smiled Ricciardo when asked about the looming summer break. “You never know what will happen. I’m just trying to secure my future in the sport at the moment.”

Those hopes were dashed within hours of Daniel leaving Spa in a helicopter alongside ax Verstappen as the pair posted a video of themselves to the lyrics, “Hello, there’s somewhere I need to be.”

Aston Martin: More big signings

 

 

 

Red Bull bank on up coming circuits

However, Marko details the reasons behind the team deciding quickly to retain Sergio Perez. “[He] will continue to drive the Red Bull Racing car after the summer break, as there are now races on tracks where he was good last year, and we are counting on stability,“ the Austrian claims to be the exact reason for the decision.

Yet a glance at the results from last year do not really bear out what Dr. Marko claims. Prior to the summer break Perez had two race wins, three second places and twice came home in third. Monaco was his worst result and only non-scoring finishing as he came home in P16.

From Zandvoort onwards in 2023, Checo had a second and third place podiums and four fourth place finishes as his best results. Twice he failed to score at all and the other two races saw him P8 and P10.

What is for certain is Sergio will be dropped and before the Mexican Grand Prix if Red Bull are in danger of losing out to McLaren. The hope will be that Max will up his win ratio agin from just three in the last nine Grand Prix and this with Checo nailing top five classifications would be enough to keep McLaren behind even were they to claim double podiums at most race weekends.

Ricciardo on F1 retirement

 

 

 

Lawson’s future to be announced shortly

Speaking about the Red Bull reserve driver’s future, Marko says: “We will announce what happens next with Liam Lawson in September – even though the competition would like to use him on loan, he is not available for that.

“Our Formula 2 driver Isack Hadjar took his fourth victory … in Spa. He clearly has the potential for Formula 1.

“We’ll see how things develop, but he will certainly take on some role. It could be that he will spend a year as a test and simulator driver, like Lawson.”

Lawson has an exit clause in his contract should he not get a drive for either of the Red Bull owned teams next season. But Red Bull have boxed clever as the number of opportunities for such an inexperienced F1 driver are for now running out.

Audi are believed to have approached Lawson, yet this doesn’t fit with their stated plans for two experienced drivers. Alpine don’t know whether they are coming or going in F1, but Lawson’s small salary demands and sponsorship he brings, could pave the way for them to pay for a Mercedes power unit.

“It’s not personal,” McLaren boss slams Horner

 

 

 

 

Secret data that convinced Sainz to join William

Williams Team Principal James Vowles has revealed that he first approached Carlos Sainz about joining the team during the 2023 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That initial contact laid the groundwork for what would become a pivotal decision for both Sainz and Williams. The team announced on Monday that Sainz will join them on a multi-year deal from 2025, following Ferrari’s decision to replace him with outgoing Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

Sainz had been considering his options in recent months, with potential offers from Sauber/Audi and Alpine on the table. Vowles explained in a virtual media call that discussions with Sainz began long before his departure from Ferrari was confirmed… READ MORE