Harry Benjamin shares what Sergio Perez has been doing behind the scenes after speaking to his manager

Follow us on Google Discover

Sergio Perez’s form has stabilised since the summer break, without significantly improving. Perez only just survived beyond the Belgian GP, and his Red Bull future is under active review.

As the season resumed at Zandvoort last month, Perez qualified and finished in the top six. In a marker of just how poor his campaign has been, it was the first time since Miami that he’d achieved such a feat.

In Italy last time out, he slipped to eighth on the grid and couldn’t make any progress in the race. Perez finished in the same position in Emilia Romagna and Spain, races teammate Max Verstappen won.

But the difference this time is that Verstappen struggled too. The Dutchman matched his poorest result of the season so far in sixth.

Indeed, it seems as if the handling issues that have plagued Perez all season are now starting to affect the world champion. Red Bull have yet to definitively confirm whether the Mexican will stay but speculation around his future has cooled.

Sergio Perez’s managers have been working on his ‘mindset’ at Red Bull

Speaking on Sky Sports F1 during the second practice session at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, commentator Harry Benjamin shared details of a chat with one of Perez’s managers. They have been trying to improve his ‘mindset’.

It’s been a brutal ‘few weeks and months’ for the 34-year-old as his form has spiralled. There were moments when it seemed as if he would not survive at Red Bull, despite signing a new contract in June.

Perez crashed out in Q1 at the Hungarian GP in July, condemning him to 16th on the grid. After securing a promising P2 in qualifying in Belgium a week later, he slipped to seventh.

But while Verstappen has been better able ‘to drive around’ Red Bull’s problems, hence his 62-point championship lead, there now appears to be a growing sympathy for Perez. That could yet save his seat.

“I actually caught up with one of his management team in the paddock earlier,” Benjamin said. “He was saying that over the last few weeks and months, we’ve really been trying to work with Checo to just help his mindset.

“He’s got the car problems, he’s not able to drive around them as perhaps Verstappen might have been able to. He can’t quite do it on Verstappen’s level.”

Red Bull’s three-man shortlist to partner Max Verstappen in 2025

Red Bull expect Perez to excel in Baku, which is one of the reasons they decided to keep him on this summer. They knew this event was on the horizon, as well as the Singapore GP next weekend.

Perez has taken two of his six career victories to date in Azerbaijan, and he also won at Marina Bay in 2022. As such, if he fails to impress in this back-to-back, it could hurt his chances of keeping his drive.

The talk earlier in the season was that Red Bull needed to make a change to save their constructors’ title bid. But with McLaren now just eight points ahead, it feels as if that championship has already slipped from their grasp.

Red Bull have a three-man shortlist to partner Max Verstappen, with Perez and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo among the options. They could also take a wildcard punt on F2 championship leader Isack Hadjar, with Liam Lawson expected to slot in at the junior team.