Red Bull hierarchy left so ‘confused’ by something Sergio Perez has done this season

Follow us on Google Discover

The Red Bull driver lineup was a hot topic following the Belgian Grand Prix after reports that Sergio Perez might get replaced after the summer break.

Crunch meetings between Red Bull’s hierarchy occurred immediately on the Monday after another disappointing result for Perez, who started on the front row of the grid for the race at Spa Francorchamps but finished in eighth behind teammate Max Verstappen.

After expensive crashes at the Monaco, Canadian, and Hungarian Grands Prix coupled with poor qualifying results, Perez was expected to lose his seat in favour of either Daniel Ricciardo or Liam Lawson.

Instead, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has backed Perez until the end of the season and expects him to turn things around as they fight off a threat to their seventh Constructors’ Championship from McLaren.

While Perez has committed a series of unforced errors to put him in this position, his form has caused some ‘confusion’ for Red Bull’s senior management according to journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm when speaking on The Race F1 podcast.

Sergio Perez form ‘confusing’ for Red Bull hierarchy

Red Bull started the season in business as usual having won four of the first five races but since the start of the European leg, their advantage has been slashed by McLaren and Mercedes.

Verstappen is now having to fight for race wins instead of winning by significant margins, while Perez has failed to match specific performance clauses set out in his Red Bull contract.

Mitchell-Malm believes the decision to keep Perez is likely so they can focus on the bigger picture that could affect the second half of their season.

“They thought they could get away with it for this year because of the car advantage they’ve had the last two seasons and how they started this season. The way Checo was at the start of the season as well, it’s one of the things that’s been so confusing to the Red Bull hierarchy is what’s happened,” said Mitchell-Malm.

“They’ve stopped having a car advantage and had a situation where as they’ve upgraded their car, maybe they have made it trickier to drive. Doing things that improve the car, making it not just faster, but confident for the drivers.

“The drivers have talked about this going into the summer break. Verstappen said that who his teammate is, isn’t the biggest problem. They’ve got other issues with the car to prioritise. Checo said they need to work it out because they’ve been a bit lost and they have to get the car in a better place effectively. So I think it feels like a situation that has almost crept up on them, but it should never have crept up on them.”

Sergio Perez must improve form to support Max Verstappen

What is clear about Perez’s situation is that there was a lack of any obvious replacement that Red Bull knew could have done a better job at the Belgian GP.

This consideration was highlighted by former F1 strategist Bernie Collins, while it is also reported that Horner and team advisor Helmut Marko disagreed on the best driver to step into his seat.

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

What is worth noting is that there is another three-week gap between the Singapore and United States Grands Prix, meaning there could yet be more changes made to the Red Bull driver lineup if they feel Perez is too far off the pace of Verstappen.

The Mexican will hope that the run of races including Azerbaijan will enable him to get his season back on track, as it could spell the end of his Red Bull career in 2025.