Tension is mounting at Red Bull after Sergio Perez’s shocking performance in the Belgian Grand Prix, where he plummeted from second to eighth place.
Red Bull’s motorsport advisor, Helmut Marko, didn’t hold back, stating, “Sergio had the opportunity to take a good result from second place. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Especially in the last stint, he completely collapsed, where he set 1m48s lap times.”
Marko highlighted that Perez’s struggles are putting his future with the team in jeopardy: “For us, the situation is such that we will also go through the overall situation for 2025. Every result is important for Sergio, and eighth place from second on the grid is certainly not what we expected.”
Despite receiving a two-year contract extension earlier in the season, Perez has failed to deliver the expected results. Failing to secure a win since April 2023, the pressure is on for Perez as Red Bull’s summer break looms. He was comfortably outperformed by his team-mate, Max Verstappen, who started from 11th due to an engine penalty and still beat Perez.
Rumors are swirling that Daniel Ricciardo, Liam Lawson, or Yuki Tsunoda may replace Perez if Red Bull decides to shake up its driver line-up. However, Perez remains defiant, blaming a lack of power on the straights, traffic, tires, strategy, and car balance for his poor performance.
Perez shared his frustrations, saying, “I was just struggling a lot on the straights. I don’t know what was going on, but I had to save battery early on in the first couple of laps, and I was just very weak on the straights.”
In the second stint, things only got worse for Perez as traffic and tire issues compounded his problems. He remarked, “The second stint, jumping onto the medium tire with all the traffic behind, made it really, really difficult. Balance wasn’t there as well, so plenty of things to analyze on our side.”
Meanwhile, Perez has made it clear that he’s had enough of the speculation about his future, asserting, “This is the last time I will speak about the future, so just to make it clear for everyone, I will not be speaking anymore. I will not answer any more questions about the future.”
As Red Bull heads into its summer break, all eyes are on Perez and his performance. Will he bounce back at the Dutch Grand Prix or will Red Bull make a drastic change? Only time will tell.
