Sergio Perez is now in his fourth season with Red Bull Racing and tenure with the world champion F1 team has been mixed at best. The Mexican driver claimed his maiden F1 victory during the Covid stricken season when at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix he took the lead from Esteban Ocon with just over 20 laps remaining.

Since his arrival at Red Bull the following season as the replacement for the outgoing Alex Albon, Checo was won five Grand Prix with his first coming at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

This year of course saw the titanic battle between his team mate and Lewis Hamilton for the drivers title which famously was won on the last lap of the last race of the year. While Verstappen was basking in the glory of his first championship, Red Bull lost out to Mercedes in the constructors’ title race that season due to Perez’s inability to match the performances of Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes number two driver.

 

 

 

Perez P3 in Vegas saved his RBR drive for 2024

Checo (190) brought home less than half the points for the team than did Verstappen (395.5) although his efforts the following season appeared to show some improvement. Two wins and 305 points from Perez saw Red Bull claim their first constructors’ title since 2013 although he disappointingly failed to give the world champions their first ever 1-2 in the drivers’ championship.

Last year saw Red Bull create the most dominant car of all time in the form of the RB19 and there were early season prospects of a genuine title race between the red bull drivers. Checo won two races early doors and lay just 6 points behind Verstappen after his win in round four at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Yet this was to be as good as it got for Sergio, who managed just six podiums over the final eighteen rounds with his third place in Las Vegas guaranteeing Red Bull the m much coveted 1-2 in the drivers’ championship.

Four podiums and in the first five events of 2024 appeared to suggest that Checo was finally getting on top of the often difficult to drive Red Bull cars as he sat second in the drivers’ championship behind team mate Max Verstappen.

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Hulkenberg and Alonso better results than Checo

Yet this was to be the zenith of his season to date as the nightmares kept on coming over the next nine rounds before the summer break. This season’s RB20 is a shadow of its predecessor and the loss of the big advantage over the other teams has meant unless Checo is on top form, he cannot claim a podium as he did last season.

Since Checo’s Sprint podium in Miami and a P4 in the Grand Prix there, he has failed to make the top six in any of the next eight rounds. Fernando Alonso in a significantly inferior Aston Martin achieved this in Canada and Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas claimed sixth both in Austria and at the British Grand Prix.

Last time out in Belgium before the Sumer break it seemed Sergio had found some form as he qualified in P3, but was significantly slower than his team ate up front. During the Grand Prix Checo slipped down through the field coming in either which was upgraded when George Russell was disqualified from the race win.

Yet despite starting on the front row with Max down in P11, Checo finished three spots behind his team mate and n ow lies seventh in the drivers’ table.

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Newey replacement says “very difficult” to help Perez

It was widely rumoured that Perez would be ousted by Red Bull during the summer given their hopes of winning another team title are fading fast, yet just hours after the chequered flag in Spa, the team confirmed he would continue next time out in Zandvoort.

However, his future to the end of the year is highly uncertain and with a run of four races before another four weeks break in the F1 calendar, Perez is surely in the last of the last chance saloons with the team.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, the man replacing Adrian Newey – Pierre Wache – explains the difficulty the team are having pinpointing the difficulty Sergio has with the RB20.

“We try to see some tendencies, but it is very difficult to highlight them because last year he was struggling as well sometimes, so it is difficult for us to find.

“The main problem we have is that we try to reproduce the car and all these things in simulations, but it doesn’t mean that it simulates exactly what the car is doing in all conditions.”

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RB20 struggles with 2024 Pirelli tyres

Christian Horner described Perez’s collapse in form this year as “unsustainable” in Hungary and Dr. Helmut Marko after the following Belgium Grand Prix said Checo “completely collapsed” during the race.

The RB20 is nowhere near as kind to its tyres as last year’s Red Bull car and even Max Verstappen struggled to make up places at the easy to overtake circuit in Spa Francorchamps. 

In Miami a safety car gave Lando Norris an advantage with a let pit stop than Max who had been leading the race, but unlike in the RB19, Verstappen was unable to close the gap and win the race.

The 2020 Pirelli rubber has proven difficult for a number of the teams to understand and in Monaco for the first time in F1 history the top ten finishers were in the order they started the race.

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Red Bull simulations do not correlate

Wache admits Red Bull are having greater difficulty this season un understanding the relationship between the tyres and the various car setups which differ from circuit to circuit.

“The interaction with the tyres is very difficult to reproduce, even if we try our best. Improving these areas is an important part of our process,” added the Red Bull engineer.

Perez who was once known known as a “tyre whisperer”, famed for his ability to stop once less than the rest of the field and take advantage of their time loss bring the car home ahead of its starting place.

Yet even he has been defeated by the 2024 challenge set by Pirelli and may have just four more races to save his career at Red Bull Racing.

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“Vowles is over rated” – says F1 driver ranked top 16 of all time

James Vowles first came to prominence during his time as the Mercedes F1 team strategist. His voice would be heard over team radio as the final arbitrator when infighting between team mates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton broke out during a Grand Prix.

Famously in Austria 2018, Vowles came over the airwaves apologising to Hamilton who was upset because the team had not pitted him during a virtual safety car period. For F1 observers and fans alike this wad a strange thing to do and later Christian Horner questioned why the Mercedes team strategist was forced to suffer such public humiliation.

“I have never worked with Lewis and I don’t know what makes him tick and what doesn’t, but it a fairly bizarre thing to need to do for somebody to throw themselves under the bus to motivate a driver to go faster from fourth back into the lead,” said the Red Bull boss after the race… READ MORE