A Spa, last race before the summer break Red Bull found a double that was missing from the Grand Prix Miami. What was most worrying were Sergio Perez's mixed performances and his crazy idea of chasing Max in a title fight that never really existed. Furthermore, the proximity of Ricciardo and his return to the track as a replacement for De Vries in AlphaTauri didn't help. Sergio Perez hoped until the end for an equal match with the two-time world champion Max Verstappen. But now, as also reported by the super consultant Red Bull, Helmut Marko would have stopped believing it, for everyone's sake. Sergio, again according to Marko, is not capable of doing better than second place. Marko also revealed the scenario that Perez would face if he were to be eliminated before the termination of his contract at the end of 2024.
A one-way world championship
The RB19 immediately stood out from its rivals, favoring the scenario of a two-way fight for the World Championship. The same Perez on social media after the victory in Saudi Arabia he had declared that he "wanted to become champion". Message promptly deleted, a symptom of a rather tense atmosphere in Red Bull. The team's will has always been clear, to fight for the title with Max, and to use Perez above all for the constructors' championship. Perez is basically there to take the second lead. His ambitions ended up becoming his worst enemy. The constant pressure, the desire to demonstrate that he can fight on an equal footing with Max often led him to make a mistake.
The scenario therefore soon changed. Perez began to quickly lose ground in the fight with Max, especially in qualifying, the Mexican's weak point. Thus, of the 12 races contested in this first part of the season Red Bull won them all but only two thanks to the Mexican. The remaining ones were won by Verstappen with a rather clear margin, even in Belgium, a race in which Max had to serve a penalty. The Dutchman, who started 6th, crossed the finish line 20 seconds ahead of his teammate, who started on the front row.
Marko: “Perez must find himself”
In this fight Perez lost his way and this ended up damaging not only himself but above all the team forced to do extra work due to the numerous accidents. And we know that patience at Red Bull ends up running out very quickly. Everyone tried to convince Perez of the impossibility of the undertaking, of his dream. Nobody was willing to put more energy into it. “Perez must find himself: now he has woken up from the dream of winning the World Cup. Maybe this will help him focus on performing as best as possible again“, explains Marko a Motorsport total. "He does some excellent races and makes great overtakes, but mistakes in qualifying penalize him. Qualifying has always been his weak point. "
Perez isn't the only one who has to prove he deserves the job. In fact, Marko also explained the situation of Ricciardo, candidate to replace Perez from 2025. “With Ricciardo, we have a returnee who can demonstrate his worth in the next races. It's clear that she has to beat Tsunoda though. AND we also have Liam Lawson, who is doing very well in Japan. I remember a junior test in Estoril years ago, Ricciardo and Perez were very young. We simulated qualifying and long runs: they were the fastest, but Checo wasn't there on the flying lap".
But what would happen if Perez was taken out?
We are used to the method that Red Bull adopts to manage its own drivers and those of AlphaTauri/ToroRosso. Kvyat, Gasly, Albon, Ricciardo, De Vries. All these names tell a certain story. Very often Red Bull has used its "second team" to manage thornier situations, such as those of Kvyat and Gasly.
However, if Perez were to disappoint expectations, it would not be possible to do as previously and transfer him to AlphaTauri. This is because of the Mexican's contract. “Perez has another type of contract“ – says Marko. A situation reminiscent of that of De Vries, fired even before the summer break, and cut off from the Circus. In Perez's case, with increasing age it would become more difficult to return.
Source statements: FormulaPassion
