Christian Horner would have ‘major egg on his face’ if he made one Red Bull driver decision

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Sergio Perez may have just two races to save his Red Bull future. Starting at the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend, Perez must prove that he’s not a liability in the constructors’ championship.

It’s highly unlikely, even if Verstappen suffers a DNF, that he manages to get within 100 points of his teammate before the summer break. That means Red Bull will be entitled to break his contract, should they wish.

But if the Mexican can finally halt the slide that started at the Emilia Romagna GP in May, then he could change the narrative. The team may at least be willing to let him see out the campaign.

The uncertainty could persist into the off-season and 2025, but Perez would at least avoid the shame of losing his drive midseason, only around six weeks or so after signing a new deal. The 34-year-old had offered Red Bull stability in their driver line-up since joining in 2021.

Pierre Gasly, the immediate successor to Daniel Ricciardo, only lasted around six months before he was demoted back to Toro Rosso. His replacement Alex Albon fared slightly better but was gone within a year and a half.

Red Bull are currently 72 points clear at the top of the standings, whereas this time last year the gap was 118. That shows why Perez is under significantly more pressure this term.

Sacking Sergio Perez would embarrass Christian Horner

According to BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson, Perez’s fate lies in the hands of team principal Christian Horner. Horner has prevailed in the power struggle at Milton Keynes, while the influence of Helmut Marko has waned.

As the head of the Red Bull driver academy, Marko may be more inclined to promote Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda, and move on from the ageing Perez and Ricciardo. The 81-year-old is known to have a close relationship with Verstappen.

Horner has consistently backed Ricciardo, while his views on Lawson are unclear. Previous reports have suggested that he doesn’t think Tsunoda could ‘survive’ alongside Max Verstappen.

Reputationally, Horner may be reluctant to ‘sack’ or ‘demote’ Perez. Given that he handed him a contract extension so recently, this would leave him with ‘major egg on his face’.

Red Bull now holding talks with external driver over race seat

Horner may have consolidated his power within Red Bull, but it’s hard to see other senior figures at Milton Keynes backing him if he rehired Ricciardo. The Australian may have won seven races with the team in the past, but his form this year has simply been too inconsistent.

Meanwhile, Lawson left engineers ‘slightly underwhelmed’ with his lap times in the RB20 last week. The New Zealander took to the track at Silverstone in what was officially a filming day.

With all three internal options somewhat unconvincing for different reasons, Horner may have to look outside the driver pool. And this could be the development that Carlos Sainz has been waiting for.

One journalist believes that Sainz is now holding talks with Red Bull as he looks to capitalise. However, Verstappen’s feelings could be crucial after a tense year alongside the Spaniard back in 2015.