Anthony Davidson ‘expecting’ Red Bull to call up ‘phenomenal’ driver if Sergio Perez leaves

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Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner would have gone into qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix hoping for one thing and one thing only – a clean session for Sergio Perez.

Horner invited Sergio Perez to his house after his latest disappointment at Silverstone amid increasing pressure on his Red Bull future.

At the start of the race weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Perez appeared to have made some progress.

During practice, he was much closer to teammate Max Verstappen despite the Dutchman having more updates added to his car this weekend.

However, Perez’s weekend once again turned into a nightmare during the first session of qualifying.

The conditions were tricky and on a damp track, Perez went spinning into the barriers at turn 8, bringing his involvement in the session to an end.

He was 9^th at the time of his accident, but an improving track saw him eventually drop out in Q1 for the fourth time in six races.

This is only going to increase speculation about his future and Anthony Davidson was speaking on Sky Sports F1 (20/7 2:41pm) about his potential replacements.

Unfortunately for Perez, he drives for the only team on the grid that already has two drivers up to speed in this generation’s Formula 1 cars ready and waiting to make the step up.

However, Yuki Tsunoda had a big crash of his own in Q3 and Daniel Ricciardo hasn’t shown the sort of form many would have expected from him this season at RB.

Instead, Davidson says he’s ‘expecting’ Red Bull to call up reserve driver Liam Lawson into Perez’s seat should Horner and Helmut Marko decide to let him go.

It would be a high-pressure situation for the 22-year-old Kiwi to be dropped into but he performed admirably in the same position last year at AlphaTauri.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Sergio Perez’s life outside F1 from net worth to nickname

Anthony Davidson ‘expecting’ Liam Lawson to be Sergio Perez’s replacement if he’s dropped

Talking about the driver situation at Red Bull, Davidson said: “He was impressive [at Zandvoort] of course he was and I think that’s why we’re all still talking about him and almost expecting him to be the one to fill Sergio Perez’s seat if he were to leave or be pushed out of the team.

“He was feisty, he was thrown in at the deep end and he swam very well and didn’t just take the fight to Yuki Tsunoda, he beat him pretty much and he knocked out Max Verstappen in Singapore qualifying.

“He was phenomenal and it wasn’t just one race, he did it multiple times.

“So yeah, he caused a stir and we’re excited to see him back in Formula 1 as a fully-fledged racing driver.”

READ MORE: Who is Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

Sergio Perez’s contract clauses make Red Bull’s summer break switch worryingly easy

The Hungaroring has a reputation for being difficult to overtake and Perez is going to need to confound those expectations to get a positive result out of the weekend.

He not only needs to score points but a decent haul too with McLaren lining up on the front row of the grid in prime position to slash Red Bull’s advantage in the Constructors’ Championship.

Things just aren’t going well for the Mexican driver and clauses in Perez’s contract make an exit during the summer break entirely possible.

The question for Red Bull is whether Liam Lawson could get up to speed fast enough to be an upgrade on Perez.

Lawson’s contract also contains an important clause that Red Bull need to react to.

He can leave for free in September if he’s not either already in a race seat or guaranteed one for 2025.

Audi are interested in Lawson which puts added pressure on Red Bull’s decision for next season.

However, they might be given the perfect opportunity to avoid that issue if Perez fails to make ground in Hungary and struggles at Spa next weekend.