Schumacher believes ‘disappointed’ F1 star has Red Bull contract ‘agreements’

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Ralf Schumacher believes Sergio Perez cannot handle Helmut Marko and already has an agreement to terminate his contract at Red Bull after the 2023 Formula 1 season.

The 33-year-old had another disappointing race at the Dutch Grand Prix as Max Verstappen extended his F1 driver’s championship lead. Perez now trails his Red Bull teammate by 138 points through 13 rounds. He also failed to finish on the podium for the sixth time this year.

Perez only had himself to blame for failing to get a rostrum finish in Zandvoort. The Mexican crossed the line in P3 behind Verstappen and Fernando Alonso but dropped to P4 owing to a five-second time penalty. He sped in the pit lane after crashing into the wall at the pit entry.

Sergio Perez endured another disappointing F1 weekend at the Dutch GP

Red Bull launched Perez through the order after an inspired decision to pit at the end of the opening lap. He had started down in P7 after qualifying 1.3 seconds slower than pole-sitter, Verstappen. But pitting to take the intermediate tyres early on shot Perez into the race lead.

Perez ultimately held a strong advantage over Verstappen as the Dutchman stopping at the end of lap two left him in P10. But the home hero made light work of regaining the positions and sat P2 by lap seven. Improving track conditions also saw Verstappen easily reel in Perez.

Red Bull avoided a potential on-track battle between their two drivers by pitting Verstappen back onto the slick tyres first. It also gave him the undercut on Perez, who never looked like fighting the 25-year-old. Instead, his focus was on defending Alonso before further rain fell.

But Perez gifted P2 to Alonso when the Mexican misjudged his braking point into Turn 1 and sailed straight on. Zhou Guanyu then crashing at Turn 1 saved Perez’s blushes somewhat as the red flags meant his stop for the full wet tyres was effectively invalidated for the restart.

Ralf Schumacher believes Red Bull will replace the Mexican for 2024

Schumacher now fears for Perez’s future with Red Bull as his pit lane crash and time penalty were just the latest signs of his struggles. The ex-Williams and Toyota driver believes Perez is also due to leave the Milton Keynes outfit in part due to a clash of personalities with Marko.

“Sergio Perez once again made a mistake when he drove into the barriers at the entrance to the pits and this action also resulted in a penalty that cost him second place in the end,” said Schumacher in his F1 column for Sky Germany. “I think his days at Red Bull are numbered.

“Helmut Marko isn’t exactly known for his warm-hearted way of dealing with Perez. I think that Perez, as a guy, can’t deal with it so well, that’s how I explain these serious mistakes.

“Perez looked very grumpy, disappointed and also absent all weekend. I think that there were already agreements about a separation after the end of the season.”