When Red Bull could now axe Sergio Perez after granting ‘stay of execution’

Follow us on Google Discover

Sergio Perez may be safe until after the Formula 1 summer break, but the fight for his Red Bull seat continues. Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson will remain interested observers.

On Monday, team principal Christian Horner told his Red Bull staff that the driver line-up would remain unchanged during the shutdown. Perez has survived a brutal stretch of form that has seen him collect 28 points in nine races, including a Sprint in Austria.

The Milton Keynes outfit only handed the Mexican a new contract in June. But while they would have wanted to avoid the embarrassment of sacking him so soon, that doesn’t seem to have been the decisive factor in their decision.

Indeed, Red Bull negotiated break clauses into the deal to prepare for the current eventuality. It will cost £3.8m to pay Perez off, but they stand to lose more than double that amount if McLaren pip them in the constructors’ standings.

Andrea Stella’s team have now closed the gap to 42 points, with 10 races remaining. Since the Emilia Romagna GP, when Perez’s spiral began, they have gained 71 – an average of just under nine per weekend.

At that rate, they could be top of the table within the next five races. While Red Bull would understandably have seen the inexperienced Lawson or the inconsistent Ricciardo as a risk, sticking with Perez is a major gamble in itself.

Sergio Perez could lose Red Bull seat after Singapore GP

In an address at the factory, Horner told employees that he expected Perez to perform in the upcoming GPs. There are races on the horizon where he has previously ‘done well’.

The season resumes with the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of the month, followed by a race in Italy a week later. After a fortnight break, there’s another back-to-back, this time in Azerbaijan and Singapore.

Two of Perez’s six F1 wins to date have come in Baku, while he also won at Marina Bay in 2022. Speaking on The Race F1 podcast, journalist Scott-Mitchell Malm suggested that the 34-year-old could lose his seat if he didn’t deliver at those venues.

Rather than unequivocally backing Perez, Horner may instead have granted him a ‘stay of execution’. If Red Bull did make a change after Singapore, the replacement would have four full weeks to prepare, and then six races to save the team in the constructors’.

“The reference to tracks he has previously excelled [at] could well mean Baku and Singapore,” Mitchell-Malm said. “Two circuits he scored three of his five Red Bull wins on. There are obviously Zandvoort and Monza before then. 

“I don’t know about you, but I am interpreting this as the decision is ‘basically we can’t make a decision’ and they’re kicking the can down the road. And I really wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that they’re basically giving a stay of execution to Checo and giving him his old favourites of Baku and Singapore because they’re back to back now with this revised calendar for this year. 

“And then they’ll take a view after that because there is another three-and-a-half week, four-week gap after that, which would be another opportune moment to make a change if you felt the need to.”

How Carlos Slim helped Sergio Perez survive summer break

After the Belgian GP, Max Verstappen said Perez had delivered a ‘very positive’ weekend despite falling from second to eighth. He suggested that the team’s issues with tyre wear were partly to blame.

Those remarks from the world champion may have influenced Red Bull’s view. Verstappen is 78 points clear in the drivers’ standings even without support from his teammate.

But it appears that the decision wasn’t made solely for sporting reasons. F1 owners Liberty Media urged Red Bull to keep Perez to avoid a huge drop in revenue at the Mexico City Grand Prix in October.

What’s more, there was reportedly a helping hand from one of the country’s most influential figures. World-renowned tycoon Carlos Slim intervened to support Perez, a leading Latin American athlete.