Helmut Marko’s provides damning Sergio Perez conclusion amid Red Bull uncertainty

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Red Bull Racing know they have an incredibly difficult call to make during the summer break if they want to win the Constructors’ Championship.

The gap between Red Bull and McLaren with 10 race weekends left sits at less than 50 points.

With a one-two finish worth 43 points as McLaren discovered in Hungary, it won’t take long before Andrea Stella’s team suddenly have an unlikely lead in the standings.

Three-time world champion Max Verstappen is doing everything he can to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Even with a 10-place grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix, Verstappen still found his way past Lando Norris to deny him the chance to add further misery to their weekend.

However, Sergio Perez should have been tasked with stopping the latest new race winner in Formula 1: Oscar Piastri.

Unfortunately for Perez, his front-row start counted for very little at the end of the race.

Helmut Marko was speaking to Sky Deutschland after the race in Spa about Perez’s display.

Red Bull will hold a meeting about Perez’s future on Monday to determine their next steps.

Verstappen needs a stronger teammate to support him in the battle to win the Constructors’ Championship.

Not only that, McLaren are putting together strong performance after strong performance and it could come down to the final races to see if Verstappen can retain his title for a fourth straight year.

With Perez in the other car, Verstappen can’t rely on any support from the other side of the garage.

So much so, that Red Bull decided to pit Perez early to bring his second stint to an end just to avoid him holding up the Dutchman.

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

Helmut Marko unhappy with Sergio Perez ahead of crunch talks over his Red Bull future

Asked if this was Sergio Perez’s last appearance in the Red Bull, Marko said: “Sergio had the opportunity to achieve a good result from second place.

“Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“He completely collapsed, especially in the last stint, when he set 1:48 times.

“What looked so positive in qualifying unfortunately didn’t materialise in the race.”

Marko was then asked about the Mexican’s future and he continued: “Our situation is such that we will also go through the overall situation for 2025. We have a number of drivers and we have a concept.”

“But of course, every result [is important] for Sergio, and eighth place from second on the grid is certainly not what we expected.”

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

Christian Horner echoes Helmut Marko’s thoughts on Sergio Perez’s performance

For a long time, it’s been known that Horner is more of a fan of Perez than Marko.

When his future at the team was being questioned at the start of the year, the Mexican driver was more willing to back him than Verstappen, who is more aligned with Marko within the senior Red Bull hierarchy.

If Perez loses Horner’s support then he’s in trouble and it’s hard to see the benefit of moving Perez into an RB seat if one of their two drivers is promoted.

Daniel Ricciardo is Perez’s most likely replacement but he’s not exactly blown anyone away this season.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda isn’t in contention to drive for Red Bull despite outscoring Ricciardo in the Drivers’ Championship.

It’s a far from straightforward decision for Marko and co. to make, but they have several weeks to deliberate if they wish before F1 returns to action at Zandvoort.