Helmut Marko issues brutal response to Sergio Perez after he lamented Max Verstappen upgrade advantage

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Sergio Perez’s chances of staying at Red Bull for 2025 arguably suffered at the US Grand Prix last weekend. He’s only finished in the top six once in the last 13 races.

Perez may feel that anything in the top eight – or in this case in the top seven following Lewis Hamilton’s retirement – is solid enough. The top four teams have broken away in 2024, so the first target is staying in that bracket.

But the problem is that he’s often battling midfield cars rather than his rivals. In Austin, Perez spent much of the first stint scrapping with Yuki Tsunoda – one of his competitors in the race to partner Max Verstappen.

Tsunoda had shown promise but eventually slipped to 14th after a late spin. However, the returning Liam Lawson was one of the stars of the race as he recovered from 19th after engine penalties to finish ninth.

That will increase the pressure on Perez ahead of his home race in Mexico this weekend. He came home seventh after losing out in a late tussle with George Russell, who, rather embarrassingly for the 34-year-old, had started in the pit lane.

He failed to score in the Sprint on Saturday, finishing ninth after starting 11th. Ferrari picked up 55 points across the weekend to close within eight of Red Bull, who consequently look set to fall to third.

Helmut Marko dismisses Sergio Perez comments on Max Verstappen upgrades

Perez partly attributed the gap to Verstappen to superior parts. As quoted by The Mirror, he said that Red Bull had favoured his teammate with their upgrade package, making him significantly quicker in Austin’s high-speed corners.

“I don’t have the same upgrades as Max, we see it a lot in fast corners, which there are a lot of, but in the end the car is working well,” said Perez. “We have made progress, and with the adjustments we made, it was easier to drive.”

Speaking to outlets including ESPN Deportes, Red Bull executive director Helmut Marko issued a rather brutal two-word response. Addressing Perez’s comments, he said: “Marginal differences.”

Perez finished the race nearly 40 seconds behind Verstappen and just under a minute adrift of race-winner Charles Leclerc. He could fall more than 200 points back from his teammate on home soil.

Sergio Perez Mexico City Grand Prix retirement rumours refuse to go away

It’s worth noting that Perez may be partly responsible for the upgrade shortage. Ex-Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos made this point before the race.

Doornbos has heard that Perez’s crashes hurt Red Bull’s development budget, potentially leading to delays. It’s unclear at this stage whether he’ll have all the new parts for Mexico.

Rumours persist that it could be his final visit to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as an F1 driver. Perez ignored his social media training when he tried to shoot them down.

But F1 expert Peter Windsor said last weekend that it’s ‘beginning to look like’ Perez will announce his retirement this weekend. Prompted by Red Bull, he could save face by making it seem as if he proactively walked away.