Bernie Collins explains the ‘big problem’ facing Red Bull with Sergio Perez

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Sergio Perez has endured a series of poor results in the last few races which has put his seat at Red Bull under serious threat.

The team has given him the upcoming races at Hungary and Spa to improve his form and meet certain performance clauses in his contract, otherwise he could be replaced midway through the year.

Perez has only scored 15 points in the last six races and failed to qualify inside the top ten on several occasions, appearing to suffer from the same mistakes as he did last year in qualifying.

Liam Lawson has reportedly been lined up as a replacement, however, the 22-year-old failed to impress during a recent test at Silverstone leaving doubts as to whether Perez might be replaced.

Former F1 strategist Bernie Collins has pointed out an important problem that could be facing Red Bull if they choose to continue with him for the rest of the season when speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

Bernie Collins outlines why Red Bull could lose Constructors’ battle with Sergio Perez

Perez has gone through dips in performance before at Red Bull, but that has been while Verstappen has been able to continuously outclass the field and score maximum points for the team.

The RB19 was a dominant force at the hands of the Dutchman, but now the team has encountered problems with the development of the RB20 it faces the real prospect of being caught up.

Collins believes this is where Perez must improve to prevent any more points from being thrown away in the second half of the season.

“If we just look at points at the end of a race, the gap is pretty shocking in terms of the contribution to the Red Bull team. A gap of X number tenths in qualifying isn’t necessarily going to worry Red Bull too much,” said Collins.

“But the points at the end of the race are a big problem, because that is what will lose them in the World Championship as a team if the second car not scoring points.

“If Max DNF’s or he has a race that he needs to take a new engine penalty, Checo at this stage doesn’t appear like he’s going to be there to pick up the pieces.”

Is Red Bull’s Constructors’ Championship under threat?

Red Bull currently leads Ferrari by 71 points in the Constructors’ Championship, which is a healthy margin at the moment but could slip as Verstappen finishes lower down the order and if Perez fails to score points.

Their nearest challengers, McLaren, are 78 points away from the championship lead but that could decrease as both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finish in the points regularly.

With 12 races left in the season, Red Bull could stay in front if both drivers can score points at every round otherwise they face the prospect of having to mimic Brawn GP to the Constructors’ title with their early wins.

Peter Windsor believes Perez should have a better race at Hungary owing to the nature of the circuit, while former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has likened the Mexican’s struggle to Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren.