Red Bull chief confirms Sergio Perez ‘theory’ about why he’s ‘struggling a lot more’ this season

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Following weeks of intensive speculation, Red Bull confirmed that Sergio Perez is set to remain in the team for the second half of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

It has been a tough season for Perez, who most recently finished in seventh in the Belgian Grand Prix after starting second on the grid.

The Mexican blamed a myriad of problems with his Red Bull RB20 for the poor performance, but it followed a series of unforced errors in qualifying and races that caused Perez to fall short of specific performance clauses in his contract.

He was described by Red Bull’s advisor Helmut Marko as “completely collapsing” in the aftermath of Belgium, which meant it was all but certain he might lose his seat to another driver in the Red Bull stable.

Following crunch talks on the Monday after the race, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner decided to end speculation on his position by confirming no plans to replace him and hopes he can turn things around at the upcoming circuits.

Perez’s deficit to teammate Max Verstappen has been the main reason why the team has seen its Constructors’ Championship lead reduced to McLaren by just 42 points. Discussing the reasons behind his struggles on the Autosport F1 podcast, journalist Ronald Vording offered a theory that was confirmed by Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache.

Red Bull engineers confirm Sergio Perez ‘theory’

Verstappen is known for having a very specific driving style that favours a car that is more ‘pointy’ on corner entry compared to others. It is one of the strengths of the RB20 and indeed Red Bull’s cars in the last few seasons.

Like every other car on the grid, the RB20 has an operating window whereby the drivers are comfortable to push to extract the maximum lap time. According to Vording, there is a theory as to why Perez is struggling much more compared to Verstappen.

“I talked about this theory with some people within Red Bull, and they basically support it. Even technical director Pierre Wache, he said this is pretty much correct. But the theory is that if the car is pretty comfortable to drive, then it’s relatively easy for Checo to be within an acceptable distance of Max,” said Vording.

“When the car gets more tricky, Max is the one who can deal with it, especially in the stable rear end of the car. Checo is struggling a lot more. You have to drive it on the knife edge, then crashes occur more often.”

Sergio Perez faces important second half of 2024 season

Perez held onto his seat largely due to the back of any obvious replacements that Red Bull knew could do a better job after the Belgian GP.

According to reports, billionaire Mexican businessman Carlos Slim also played a role in influencing Red Bull’s decision to keep Perez.

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

Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson were both touted as potential replacements, but both Horner and Marko disagreed on which driver should get the preference.

While Perez has been given a vote of confidence by Horner, it is worth noting that Red Bull has done the same before with former driver Pierre Gasly a month before they demoted him to Toro Rosso.

There is still a three-week gap between the Singapore and United States Grands Prix, meaning the team could make changes if they feel Perez has not improved his form.