Sergio Perez told what his chances of being replaced by Red Bull are this season

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Sergio Perez may have signed a new Red Bull contract just 35 days ago, but he’s already under serious pressure to retain his seat with the current leaders of the Constructors’ Championship.

Red Bull have been heavily reliant on Max Verstappen for some time, but in the past few races that’s been taken to another level.

Sergio Perez’s 4^th-place finish in Miami was the start of his most recent slump and the Mexican driver has failed to finish in the top six of any of the last seven races including the Sprint in Austria.

Poor qualifying performances from Perez have been followed up by difficulties progressing through a midfield that’s getting more and more competitive.

This was highlighted by his battle with Nico Hulkenberg at the Red Bull Ring when the German got the better of Perez on the final lap to secure the first of his back-to-back 6^th-place finishes.

Journalist Mark Hughes was speaking on The Race Podcast after Perez’s latest failure at Silverstone.

He’s now shared just how likely it is that Perez will lose his seat before the end of the current Formula 1 season.

There’s already talk that Perez could be replaced by reserve driver Liam Lawson sooner rather than later.

He may only have two races left before Red Bull can activate a clause in Perez’s contract during the summer break that allows them to bring their working relationship to an end.

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Sergio Perez’s chances of retaining Red Bull seat after Silverstone rated

Asked how high he would rate the possibility of Perez not making it to the end of the season, Hughes said: “I would say after this weekend, very high.

“I would say it’s probable because it’s just woeful. You can’t justify performances like that at a top team, it’s not a sustainable situation.

“It’s a repeat pattern of the last two seasons but much worse and you could sort of get away with it when you had a second a lap on the field with your car, but you can’t get away with it when you’ve got virtually nothing and McLaren and Mercedes have got two such strong driver line-ups.

“I don’t even think it’s likely.”

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Martin Brundle backs Liam Lawson as Sergio Perez’s best replacement

The signs for Perez are not looking good that he’ll reach the required level to continue with Red Bull until the end of the season.

Perez needs to close the gap to Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship but the Dutchman is showing no signs of slowing down and arguably outperforming his Red Bull right now.

Meanwhile, that would also require Perez to significantly improve his form and that doesn’t look like happening any time soon.

Martin Brundle has backed Liam Lawson to replace Perez should Red Bull decide it’s time for the 34-year-old to move.

Perez has attracted interest from two teams on the grid should he leave Red Bull before the end of the year.

It appeared at the start of the season that Perez looked comfortable being Verstappen’s number two and was putting in performances that pleased the team.

However, updates to the Red Bull car appear to have made life tougher for the Mexican and that’s coincided with their nearest rivals closing the gap with their upgrades.

It’s turned out to be a recipe for disaster and Perez is now making mistakes that look very likely to cost him his Red Bull at this moment in time.