Andrew Benson shares whether he thinks Red Bull star Sergio Perez will complete the 2024 F1 season

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Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez had a race to forget at the home Grand Prix in Mexico City.

Hundreds of thousands of fans were in attendance as Sergio Perez failed to get out of Q1 on Saturday before finishing the race in 17th and last after a clash with Liam Lawson.

Lawson made his feelings about Perez clear on the track before apologising for his actions.

Helmut Marko wasn’t happy with Lawson’s driving against Perez but wouldn’t have been too upset if he had acted in a similar way when racing any of RB’s other rivals on the grid.

However, Perez’s race was already beginning to fall apart at this stage despite a very strong start from 18th.

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He was running in the top ten on hard tyres early on in the race but did benefit from starting outside of his grid box which earned him a five-second penalty.

For the 14th consecutive Grand Prix, Perez failed to finish inside the top five once he reached the chequered flag.

For context, his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen has only finished outside the top five four times all season, including when he suffered a mechanical failure and retired from the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Suggestions have grown that Perez might not complete the 2024 F1 season with team principal Christian Horner admitting difficult decision might need to be made on Perez’s future.

BBC Sport journalist Andrew Benson was speaking on the Chequered Flag Podcast about the 34-year-old’s future.

He believes that although things look bad, he’s unlikely to be dropped after the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez ‘thought’ to be safe at Red Bull until the end of the 2024 F1 season

Talking about another difficult race for Perez, Benson said: “He’s had a race where he’s tangled with Liam Lawson, who might replace him next year.

“He’s tangled with Lance Stroll. He’s got damage [when racing] with Lawson, was pretty close to the back anyway.

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“And then they stopped him for fastest lap and he couldn’t get that either because Charles Leclerc had done the same thing with fresh tyres in the closing stages.

“And yeah, he will not be a happy bunny and I think Red Bull have to do something really, don’t they? I don’t think this can carry on like this.”

Harry Benjamin then asked Benson if Perez would still be racing for Red Bull until the end of the season to which he replied “I would have thought so yeah.”

Red Bull fans surprised by Sergio Perez comment after the Mexican Grand Prix

Perez was defiant after Sunday’s race despite having another Grand Prix to forget.

Lawson’s driving style was the subject of Perez’s ire in his post-race interview after the Kiwi damaged his side pod in a battle.

Martin Brundle and Damon Hill disagreed on whether Lawson should have been penalised, but Perez was left very frustrated that he got away with it.

Perez’s fans also couldn’t believe what he said about his future, with the six-time race winner adamant that he would be on the grid in Mexico next year.

While Benson believes Perez has four more races to prove he’s worthy of a Red Bull seat, speculation will only continue to grow if he underperforms again in Sao Paulo.