Sergio Perez once again cut a solitary figure in the paddock at the Lusail circuit. He failed to make it out of the first round of Sprint qualifying and eventually opted to start from the pit lane. This meant Red Bull were able to run some experimental setup on the Mexican’s car which proved invaluable come Grand Prix qualifying.

Max Verstappen is the bell weather on how the RB20 is performing and come Saturday evening in Qatar he had returned to his imperious best. Despite the McLaren pair claiming a 1-2 in the Sprint in the afternoon and looking set for a repeat in the Grand Prix, it was in fact Max and George Russell who fought it out for pole while Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri admitted their car was on the limit of its performance.

“Third isn’t the position we were hoping for after yesterday’s Sprint Quali, but it was the maximum we could do today. I’m happy with the lap but not happy with the result, we just weren’t quick enough compared to the competition,” said Lando Norris who qualified one place ahead of his team mate in fourth.

 

 

 

Perez the test dummy

The Red Bull turnaround was hailed in the paddock as “remarkable” although the suspicion remains that McLaren had been complacent and not looked to improve the MCL38 after its 1-2 in the Sprint. Despite Verstappen heading the time sheets in each qualifying session, Sergio Perez was once again conspicuous by his absence from the sharp end of matters.

The Mexican driver did make it out of Q3 this time and even qualified for the top ten shoot out. Yet as the chequered flag fell on the session Sergio found himself almost a second off the pace of his team mate once again.

Red Bull are renown for making driver changes mid-season with the likes of Pierre Gasly, Nick de Vries and Daniel Ricciardo all suffering the axe before the final race weekend of the year. It was expected Checo would suffer the same fate as the team headed into the summer break.

Yet Sergio survived the chop with the explanation on offer being the next four race circuits were where he had enjoyed wins and decent performances. Yet in Baku he crashed on the penultimate lap with Carlos Sainz whilst battling for third place and his tally across the other three events was a paltry 11 points.

 

 

 

Another disastrous home Grand Prix

Then came another F1 style summer break before the final run of two triple headers starting in Austin Texas. Perez was again under pressure with a number of F1 media personnel claiming he would not return for the USGP.

Ever the survivor Checo was present in Austin Texas, and delivered one of his better performances coming home in seventh place. Then once again his home race was a disaster as Perez hobbled home last on track and a lap down to complete a second miserable year in Mexico City.

Brazil was another nil points affair for the Red Bull driver but in Las Vegas despite issues in qualifying, Checo managed to claim the final point on offer but was over a minute behind the race winner and 45 seconds slower than his team mate.

The paddock mood in Qatar whenever Sergio’s name is mentioned appears to agree he is a ‘dead man walking’ yet Red Bull remain firmly behind their driver. TJ13 contributors were discussing the Perez phenomena and how Christian Horner et al appear unconcerned by the loss of the constructors’ championship.

 

 

 

The FIA restricted resources allowance 

Having led this title race for three years, Red Bull have suffered at the FIA’s handicap rules which restrict resources for the team’s placed higher in the constructors’ table. Add to this they received a further ten percent cut for one year following their minor breach of the cost cap regulations.

Meanwhile the placing of the top teams behind Red Bull has varied from year to year allowing them each to ‘top up’ on resource allocation when not performing at their best. This year with McLaren finishing in fourth place in 2023, they were allocated 1020 wind tunnel hours to the world champions 840. In terms of CFD the numbers were 1700 to 1400 again in the favour of the Woking based squad.

Over the years since Mercedes last won the constructors’ title, Red Bull have suffered the loss of several hundred hours of aero design allowance when compared to their competitors and with a huge regulation coming for 2026, next year is critical.

By coming third in the this season’s constructors’ race, this will unlock extra time required for the whole new car designs for 2026. It was Red Bull who aced the last big rules change in 2022 as ground effect returned to F1 and Checo could be playing his part in helping the team get a head start when the starting gun for 2026 fires on January 1st next year.

 

 

 

“It makes zero sense”

The fact Checo was not dismissed in the summer break when the team had a performance clause which could have been used text the Mexican driver, suggests in some form or other he serves a purpose to the Milton Keynes team’s endeavours.

One of TJ13’s contributors suggested: “Although he’s miserable… he doesn’t appear concerned about losing his seat for 2025. A sacrificial lamb? The more I think about it the more I think we’ll see him there next year.”

Another agreed: “It kind of makes sense, only in that it makes zero sense why he is there now, so why would next year be any different.”

 

 

 

Perez remains 100% certain of 2025 RBR drive

Its as though there’s been a conversation behind the scenes where the options were laid out as follows. ‘Checo F1 is over… or be the team’s live test driver when we need it…. Take the money and smile sweetly through the pain.’

Sky F1 pundit Danica Patrick believes Sergio is embarrassing himself. “He’s done so many great things and won so many races. I think that, if it were me, I wouldn’t want to look like that anymore. I’d just say it’s time.” 

Yet for now Sergio marches on claiming week after week its “100% certain” he will be driving for Red Bull in 2025.

 

 

 

Toto Wolff details Hamilton’s qualifying weakness

Lewis Hamilton is a seven times Formula One world champion and became particularly known for his mastery of the single qualifying lap. Even today after three years of woe and a handful of starts on the front row the Mercedes driver has 104 pole positions from 355 starts.

Yet this part of Lewis armoury is now in decline as team mate George Russell has walloped him 18-5 this year in Grand Prix qualifying and 5-1 in the Sprint shootouts for pole. Other drivers with similar poor qualifying numbers when compared to their team mates are Lance Stroll (5-18), Oscar Piastri (3-20), Zhou Guanyu 3-20), Checo (1-22) and Logan Sargeant (0-12).

Hamilton was at his most despondent this weekend in Qatar when he appeared to have given up the Ghost after Grand Prix qualifying went west. With his team mate promoted to pole position after Max Verstappen was penalised with a one place grid drop, the best Hamilton could manage was P6 some half a second slower than George Russell… READ MORE