Max Verstappen told one social media post wasn’t the ‘brightest move’ amid Sergio Perez uncertainty

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Max Verstappen will continue to race alongside Sergio Perez in the upcoming Grands Prix. That’s after Red Bull decided to stick with the Mexican through the summer break.

Christian Horner and Helmut Marko were involved in a widely publicised meeting on Monday after the Belgian GP. The immediate future of Perez was top of the agenda.

Red Bull were able to activate a break clause in the Mexican’s new contract because he’d fallen more than 100 points behind Verstappen. The gap was 146 heading into the shutdown.

But in the end, they decided to hold fire on a change. Perez could be at risk again after the Singapore GP next month if he doesn’t improve.

Much has been made of the 34-year-old’s inability to support Verstappen during races. He hasn’t finished in the top six since the Miami GP – the sixth round of the season.

But that appears to have little impact on the Dutchman’s title bid, based at least on the 78-point advantage he currently enjoys over Lando Norris. Perez could cost Red Bull the constructors’ championship, but that isn’t likely to have much impact on Verstappen.

Max Verstappen video with Daniel Ricciardo questioned

Speaking on The Race F1 podcast, journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm criticised Verstappen and his media team for a video they posted on his Instagram story post-Spa. He broadcast his helicopter flight with Daniel Ricciardo, perhaps the leading contender to replace Perez.

Ricciardo and Verstappen have remained close friends since the Australian left Red Bull at the end of 2018. Mitchell-Malm has refuted any notion that they took the flight in anticipation of a reunion.

But he thinks the optics of the Sunday evening post were unhelpful for Perez and Red Bull. It only added to the sense of surprise when the outcome of the subsequent meeting emerged.

“Max [was] travelling back with Daniel Ricciardo,” Mitchell-Malm said. “Posting a video on social media probably wasn’t the brightest move. Whoever did that, I don’t think Max is necessarily in control of his own socials.

“But travel arrangements like that are booked well in advance. That wasn’t because Max knew that Daniel was going to be his teammate.”

Red Bull’s surprising message to Max Verstappen’s family before Sergio Perez decision

According to a report, Horner and Marko told the Verstappen camp that ‘Perez is gone’ after the race in Belgium. They didn’t confirm the identity of his new teammate, but assured him there would be a change before his home GP at Spa.

Verstappen and his father may have been shocked to discover a day later that Perez was sticking around. But there’s little indication that the 26-year-old was actively pushing for a refresh.

In fact, Verstappen may have lent Perez a big helping hand in his post-race media duties. He attributed his partner’s regression from second to seventh to tyre-management issues affecting both cars.

External forces could also have played a part. Liberty Media reportedly intervened to help Perez on the basis that there could be a huge drop in revenue at October’s Mexico City GP if he wasn’t on the grid.

It’s unclear what impact this would have had on Horner and co. While they didn’t have an obvious incentive to grant the request, perhaps they’re keen to preserve a strong relationship with F1’s commercial rights holders.