Barring a miracle, Red Bull Racing will not be claiming their seventh Formula One constructors’ title this year. The reason is simple, their driver pairing is the worst amongst the leading four contenders.
Sergio Perez sits eight in the drivers’ table a whopping 251 points behind his team mate who was crowned world champion last time out in Las Vegas. Red Bull handed Checo a shiny new contract in June which ‘guaranteed’ him a continuation into 2025 with an option for the following year.
Checo started the season well and come the Miami Grand Prix in May he sat second behind his team mate in the title race. A fortuitous safety car in the race around the Dolphins stadium saw Lando Norris take his maiden victory yet Sergio remained ahead of the British driver just 33 points behind his team mate.
Promising start stalls in Europe
Next time out in Emilia-Romagne the wheels began to fall from Checo’s chariot. Over the next four rounds from Imola to Barcelona Perez failed to score twice and brought home just eight points from the other two race weekends. It was then Red Bull decided a new contract should restore their drivers’ confidence and bring him back to the early season form.
There was an alleged performance clause in the Mexican drivers’ contract which would have allowed the team to release him come the summer break were he to fall more than a 100 points behind Verstappen. The gap was in fact 141 points, yet Red Bull persisted with Perez claiming the upcoming four circuits were where he had won and gone well in recent year.
The team once again were disappointed. Across the four Grand Prix before the newly installed Autumn break, Sergio collected just thirteen points despite running third in Baku as he started the penultimate lap.
A huge crash with Carlos Sainz put pay to Checo’s hopes in Azerbaijan and dropped him to eighth in the driver rankings where he remains today.
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Perez adamant he will remains at Red Bull
If anything Perez has shown incredible resilience as week in and out he is questioned by journalists as to whether he will be driving for Red Bull next season. And each time Checo is unflinching with his assertion the seat alongside Max Verstappen is his for next season.
Speaking ahead of this weekends Qatar Grand Prix Sergio told assembled media: “There’s a reason why we extended my contract during the year, and the team has everything [they need to know]. We exactly know where we are in terms of performance, in terms of issues, difficulties that we’ve had.”
When asked again if he could say with 100 per cent confidence that he will be driving for Red Bull next year, Perez responded: “Yeah, exactly.”
Seasoned F1 writer, Ralf Bach claimed recently that Checo’s contract no longer contains a performance clause as he had it removed when negotiating his contract extension. Further, the contract recognition board has already ruled Checo’s deal is watertight and should Red Bull wish him to go, they need to either pay him off or persuade him its the right time to retire.
Deal to replace Perez now done
Further, Red Bull have created themselves a headache following the reported ‘secret’ test which measured Checo against Daniel Ricciardo, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda. Sergio’s rivals apparently all came up short which is why Ricciardo was allowed to leave as his sole purpose in the team was to create pressure on Checo.
All this explains the persistent bullish responses from Perez when asked week in and out the inevitable questions over his future. Should Red Bull remain third in the constructors’ title race, this will cost them an estimated $18m in lost prize money, add into the mix a breach of contract with Perez is likely to cost the team a further $10m. The decision to resign the the driver back in June looks like a very costly mistake.
Yet Red Bull will do what they must to improve their hopes for next season. One advantage of being third is they will receive a significant increase in wind tunnel and CFD time for twelve months and with the huge regulation changes coming in 2026, this will be a significant advantage over McLaren and Ferrari.
Today, whispers in the F1 paddock claim the deal to replace Perez has now been done. Veteran F1 journalist, Adam Cooper now writes in Motorsport Magazine that Red Bull have reached an agreement in principle with Williams to sign their rising star Franco Colapinto.
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Franco Colapinto agreement reached
The young Argentinian has impressed since replacing the hapless Logan Sargeant although there are concerns about the amount of damage he has created in a number of high impact crashes. Cooper claims the only remaining obstacle preventing Colapinto replacing Perez is the fee. Williams prefer to monetorise their investment in Colapinto rather than loan him to the reigning world champions.
The price mooted is in the region of $20m so all in all the Checo mistake will cost the team an eye watering $48m. With an agreement in principle now in place all that remains is for Williams and Red Bull to formalise the transfer and Christian Horner is said to be “keen to take the risk” on a driver who only made his debut at the Italian Grand Prix at the end of the European summer.
Whether Colapinto becomes Verstappen’s team mate or not is as yet questionable. It could well be Lawson, Tsunoda and Colapinto are in a two race weekend shootout to prove who deserves the Red Bull drive next year.
Former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde feared Colapinto had thrown away his chance after crashing heavily in Las Vegas qualifying. The 50G smash followed two massive rebuilds in Sao Paulo following further errors from the Argentine driver.
The fact that that Colapinto recovered from a pit lane start to fourteenth in Las Vegas may have reassured Red Bull somewhat in particular given the lack lustre performance from their own Liam Lawson.
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Update on Michael Schumacher
New Michael Schumacher revelations from close friend – Michael Schumacher was hailed the greatest Formula One driver ever when he claimed his record seventh drivers world championship in 2004. He remains the only driver in F1 history to win five consecutive titles 2000-04 before he retired from the sport at the end of the 2006 season.
Ferrari lost their competitive edge due to rule changes and so the former ace decided the time was right for him to step back from front line racing. He became an advisor to Ferrari and effectively Jean Todts number two in the team structure as he oversaw the Ferrari development programme at the Jerez circuit. He focused on testing electronics and tyres for the 2008 season.
Yet as is often the case with F1 champions, Michael felt he had unfinished business in the sport and was persuaded by the newly acquired Mercedes team to return alongside Nico Rosberg as one of their drivers in 2010… READ MORE
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Checo is on a straight 2-year deal as made clear back in June, not only by Horner but even before him in the team statement about him continuing, but of course, contract termination is very much possible at the current rate, with Tsunoda, Lawson, & Colapinto the only viable alternatives to him, although nothing concrete yet about a Colapinto deal, so let’s wait & see.
Yes, Lawson’s performance was subpar in Las Vegas, but this could well only be a one-off blip.
Finally, while Red Bull Racing will receive more aero testing time than McLaren & Ferrari since they’re going to finish third in all likelihood, the allocations stay the same for a half-year period before getting reallocated rather than throughout a year, so from January 1 to June 30 & July 1-December 31.
Colapinto is trash, Red Bull should do everything they can to snatch Sainz instead…
Too expensive and most likely not in the budget, great non viable idea though.