Red Bull told ‘terribly good’ F1 star must be ‘number one’ Sergio Perez replacement

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Sergio Perez has so far survived internal doubt at Red Bull that the Mexican should keep his seat this season and next but remains very much at risk of being replaced.

The team from Milton Keynes have spent much of the year weighing up if Perez deserves his drive alongside Max Verstappen. Seldom has the 34-year-old shown this term that he merits a seat at the reigning constructors’ champions, and will likely cost Red Bull the title this year.

McLaren and Ferrari head Red Bull by 49 and 13 points ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix to start the last three rounds of 2024. Verstappen is once again doing his bit after scoring 393 of Red Bull’s 544 points to lead the drivers’ standings but Perez ranks in eighth with just 151.

Liam Lawson tipped as the ‘number one’ option to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull

But Red Bull team principal Christian Horner put his team in the awkward position of having Perez under contract through 2025. The Guadalajara native was due to be out of contract at the end of 2024. But Horner extended Perez’s contract in June to take the pressure off him.

Horner’s ploy backfired, yet Perez survived Red Bull discussing replacing him in the summer break. Doubts continue to linger, however, and suggestions rose that Red Bull could replace Perez as soon as the Las Vegas GP. Yet the six-time Grand Prix winner stands to finish 2024.

One aspect keeping the Mexican in the drive is that Perez is demanding Red Bull pay $20m (£16m) to terminate his contract. It will likely be a hurdle but Jeroen Bleekemolen believes Red Bull already have the top candidate to replace Perez under contract with Liam Lawson.

“What he has shown so far in Formula 1 is fantastic,” Bleekemolen told GPblog. “He’s just been strong every weekend. And, for me, what he has shown before Formula 1 says even more. He has shown in all sorts of different disciplines and classes that he is terribly good.

“The DTM, Super Formula [and] Formula 2 – with everything, that boy goes hard. So, I also think he can adapt well to the conditions. So, for me, he is definitely option number one.”

Liam Lawson is impressing Red Bull while Sergio Perez continues to struggle

Despite his adamant belief that Perez will be on the 2025 Formula 1 grid, the Mexican still faces doubts about his future at Red Bull after continually underdelivering this year. In the three-time pole-winner’s past 15 Grand Prix, Perez’s best finish was sixth in the Dutch GP.

Since taking fourth place in the Miami Grand Prix back in round six of the 21 held thus far, Perez has further only scored 48 of his 151 points. In that time, Red Bull also kicked Daniel Ricciardo out of Visa Cash App RB to see how Lawson would perform in view of next term.

Red Bull gave Lawson the final six rounds of 2024 to prove with RB that he warrants a drive for either the main team or sister outfit. Through his first three appearances this year, the 22-year-old has scored four points with P9 in the US Grand Prix and also in the Sao Paulo GP.

His performance in Austin particularly impressed Red Bull with how Lawson fought against Fernando Alonso. The race even came over a year on from the Kiwi’s last appearance in F1 with AlphaTauri while Ricciardo was injured, a stint which saw him get points in Singapore.

Now, Bleekemolen believes Lawson – who fought for the 2017 Australian Formula 4, 2018 German F4, 2019 Euroformula Open, 2021 DTM, 2022 Formula 2 and 2023 Super Formula titles – should move up from Visa Cash App RB and replace Perez for Red Bull next season.