Christian Horner and Helmut Marko now disagree about Sergio Perez’s Red Bull future

Red Bull Racing are facing one of the toughest driver decisions they’ve had to make during their 20-year Formula 1 history.

Sergio Perez is underperforming to such an extent that Red Bull are set to lose the Constructors’ Championship despite Max Verstappen leading the driver’s standings by nearly 50 points.

In the overall ranking of Red Bull’s F1 drivers, Perez features quite highly given he’s a multiple race winner and the only driver to finish second in the Drivers’ Championship behind a Red Bull teammate.

However, that was during a season where Red Bull had an almost unprecedented advantage over the rest of the grid, similar to how Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost dominated the 1988 season with McLaren.

Even last year, there were question marks over Perez’s performances as he dropped off during the middle of the season while Verstappen went on a run of 10 consecutive victories.

F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Photo by Song Haiyuan/MB Media/Getty Images

Red Bull’s advantage has dissipated this year, with McLaren and Ferrari now possessing much faster cars, and while Verstappen has been able to drive around these issues, Perez has faltered.

Perez received an apology from Red Bull after they admitted that many of the complaints he had were legitimate, but his Q1 exit and 17th-place finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix have ramped up the pressure on the 34-year-old.

Journalist Nate Saunders was speaking on the Unlapped Podcast and shared how Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and special advisor Helmut Marko feel about Perez’s future.

How Christian Horner and Helmut Marko feel about sacking Sergio Perez

Talking about the 34-year-old’s future, Saunders said: “The impression I got and the impression I had for a while was since the summer break, I think Red Bull, especially Christian Horner, has just been hoping, crossing his fingers and hoping that Perez delivered a result that can kind of end that speculation.

“We know that Christian Horner is the guy that really wants to keep Perez at the team.

“There’s a lot more to it than that. But if you break it down to more simple matters, I think Helmut is happy to just move on, cut the cord, be done with it.

“I think Horner, he still thinks that you can get something out of Perez. I don’t think anyone now thinks that Perez has that in him.”

What Helmut Marko and Christian Horner said about Sergio Perez during the Mexico City Grand Prix

Perez was hoping that his home Grand Prix would have been the perfect chance to improve his prospects within Red Bull.

He showed signs of progress in Baku when he should have finished on the podium before his late crash with Carlos Sainz.

However, since then, he’s been way too far off the pace and his record of not finishing on the podium since the Sprint Race in Miami shouldn’t be acceptable for a team of Red Bull’s calibre.

Horner admitted Perez had a target to hit after his Q1 start that he failed to reach, in part due to the collision he had with Lawson that damaged his car.

Marko’s verdict on Perez’s performance was surprisingly positive, although since the race on Sunday, Marko has described Perezas making an ‘incomprehensible’ error.

If Marko has lost faith in Perez, it’s hard to see Horner talking him around, especially as his results aren’t doing him any favours.