Helmut Marko admits Sergio Perez is ‘notoriously’ poor in one crucial area

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Sergio Perez is coming under pressure from the senior leadership at Red Bull even though he’s already signed a new contract. Perez has been struggling for form ever since the Miami Grand Prix at the start of May.

In the past six races, the Mexican has finished no higher than seventh, and only started inside the top 10 once. During the same period, teammate Max Verstappen has picked up three wins and 101 points – only 17 fewer than Perez has managed all season.

BBC F1 pundit Marc Priestley believes that his woes are ‘spiralling out of control’, and they can perhaps be traced back to qualifying at Imola. Perez suffered a shock Q2 exit, and has only dug himself deeper into a rut since.

Eighth place was all he could manage in that race, and he then suffered back-to-back DNFs in Monaco and Canada after consecutive Q1 exits. He’s returned to the points in Spain and Austria, but seventh and eighth still represents a hugely disappointing return for a Red Bull driver.

Christian Horner hasn’t shied away from the fact that the 34-year-old is ‘underdelivering’ right now. However, he believes that Perez has shown the ability to respond the criticism during his three and a half years at Milton Keynes.

On paper, his new deal runs for two years – until the end of 2026. But beneath the surface, there are certain performance clauses he must meet next season if he’s to see out that full term.

Helmut Marko admits Sergio Perez is ‘not so good’ in qualifying

Writing in his traditional Speedweek column after the race, Helmut Marko reflected on Perez’s performance. He concedes that the six-time race-winner didn’t show what he was capable of.

Perez would apparently have qualified three spots higher in P5 if he’d combined his three best sectors into one decisive lap in Q3. But as it is, he found himself caught up in the midfield, where he sustained damage that compromised his race.

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The Mexican wound up finishing below the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg after a dramatic last-gasp battle. Had he performed better on Saturday, he would avoided such a contest, but Marko admits his single-lap pace is a longstanding weakness.

“Sergio Perez also did well in qualifying at times,” he wrote. “If he had been able to pack his best sector times into one lap, he would have got fifth place on the grid, which would have been fine given the close gaps for a qualifier who is notoriously not so good.”

Perez close to breaking unwanted Felipe Massa record

Perez is inadvertently igniting a battle for the constructors’ championship. Red Bull still lead Ferrari by 64 points, but Verstappen is singlehandedly responsible for around two-thirds of their haul.

Indeed, over the past five races, both McLaren and Mercedes have outscored the world champions. They are creeping closer from third and fourth.

After 11 races, the gap between the two Red Bull drivers stands at 119 points. Only once since the introduction of the new points system in 2010 has there ever been a larger disparity between teammates at this stage – Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa at Ferrari in 2012.

While Perez hasn’t necessarily impressed in races either, it’s true that qualifying has been a long-term issue. He failed to reach Q3 nine times in last year’s RB19 – the most dominant car in F1 history.

David Coulthard understands that Red Bull didn’t want to ‘upset the apple cart’ by changing their driver line-up. But he says that, right now, the apple cart has ‘a wonky wheel’.