‘Disappointing’ £8m-a-year driver told he’s ‘unlikely’ to finish the 2024 Formula 1 season

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The United States Grand Prix gave fans a huge amount of entertainment across the race weekend with storylines playing out up and down the grid.

After a four-week break, all eyes were on the battle between Red Bull star Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris in the battle for the Drivers’ Championship.

However, it was Ferrari who stole the show by securing a one-two finish that suddenly catapulted them into Constructors’ Championship contention.

They made up significant ground on McLaren who had an off weekend by their standards, and Red Bull, who can only rely on one driver to score significant points at this stage.

That’s because Sergio Perez had another weekend to forget in the second Red Bull car.

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

Perez failed to reach SQ3 in Sprint Race qualifying before missing out on points to both Haas drivers.

The Mexican was then unable to set a time in Q3 and only made up two places from his ninth-place starting position.

Journalist Roger Benoit was writing for Blick after the United States Grand Prix and thinks there’s a bleak outlook on Perez’s immediate F1 future.

Perez has had to deal with retirement rumours recently that suggested he could announce his exit from the sport at the Mexico City Grand Prix in front of his home fans.

While he’s dismissed those suggestions, Benoit believes that Red Bull may make a brutal decision with just five races remaining.

Sergio Perez ‘unlikely’ to finish the 2024 Formula 1 season with Red Bull

The report from Blick goes into the details of the driver’s market that is still playing out at this late stage of the campaign.

Sauber have yet to announce their second driver and both McLaren and Williams would allow Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto to be loaned out, even if Audi would prefer a more permanent solution.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

They then go on to say that ‘contract or not’, Perez is ‘unlikely’ to finish the season at Red Bull.

Perez has been described as disappointing by Martin Brundle recently, via Sky Sports, and it’s hard to disagree.

The Mexican hasn’t secured a podium finish for Red Bull since the Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race and in a battle with McLaren and Ferrari where both drivers are pulling their weight, it’s extremely difficult to justify his position.

Liam Lawson impressed on debut putting further pressure on Sergio Perez

The last thing the £8m-a-year Perez needed when F1 restarted in Austin was one of the drivers challenging for his seat putting in an impressive performance.

Yuki Tsunoda was touted as a replacement for Perez by Helmut Marko but he failed to capitalise on a top-ten start in the Sprint Race and Liam Lawson gave him a tow during qualifying.

Instead, it was Lawson who started last in the race, nailed his one-stop strategy and doubled his career points tally with a ninth-place finish.

The Kiwi was within 11 seconds of Perez at the end of the race after overcutting Tsunoda during the race.

Christian Horner sang Lawson’s praises after the race which may worry Perez.

However, Perez’s fans weren’t happy with Horner’s comments and it’ll be interesting to see what reception the team get at Perez’s home race if suggestions he could lose his seat increase over the race weekend in a similar way to Daniel Ricciardo’s future became clearer in Singapore.