Why Sergio Perez is already ‘in breach of contract’ at Red Bull before Liam Lawson audition

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Sergio Perez has seen off the threat of Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull. But now Liam Lawson has the opportunity to take his spot alongside Max Verstappen.

Ricciardo looked set to replace Perez during the summer break, with the Mexican enduring a torrid run. Ultimately, though, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko hadn’t seen enough from their former driver to be confident of an improvement.

Liberty Media and Carlos Slim also helped Perez, according to reports. Red Bull insist they made their decision for solely sporting reasons.

Perez quietened the noise over his future immediately after the break. P6 at Zandvoort was his best result since Miami (P4) and he outqualified Verstappen for the first time all season in Azerbaijan before a race-ending collision with Carlos Sainz.

However, the Singapore weekend was a flashback to his early summer woes. While Verstappen qualified and finished second, Perez suffered a Q2 exit and could only score a single point.

Junior team RB have made a driver change for the final six races, with Liam Lawson replacing Ricciardo. It’s effectively an audition for the 22-year-old, who could secure a rapid promotion if he impresses.

Sergio Perez triggered Red Bull clause by failing to score enough points

Speaking on the Pit Talk podcast, journalist Mat Coch explained that Red Bull are already entitled to ‘part ways’ with Perez. That’s because he failed to meet a performance clause in his contract.

The 34-year-old fell short of a pre-summer break points target. He left Spa with 131 to his name, 146 fewer than Verstappen.

Reports had claimed that Perez had to be within 100 points of Verstappen at this stage, otherwise Red Bull would be able to make a change. He only signed a new one-plus-one contract in June.

Coch says that Horner and Marko are open to axing Perez for Lawson if he delivers. If not, the New Zealander is guaranteed an RB seat at a minimum.

“The announcement only mentions 2024 because that way the opportunity is there to place him either at RB for next year or Red Bull,” he said. “You’re not constrained either way.

“There is a contract in place that Liam will be in a race seat for 2025. Otherwise why would you agree?

“Liam’s on the grid next year. It’s just a question of is he wearing blue or white overalls?

“If Liam does well, the understanding is that Sergio Perez is already in breach of contract for next year. He hadn’t scored enough points by the summer break. Red Bull, if they so chose, could part ways with him at the end of the season.”

Nico Rosberg has seen something ‘very strange’ from Sergio Perez at Red Bull

Red Bull engineers apologised to Perez before the Singapore Grand Prix. They felt they should have taken heed of his handling concerns earlier, with Verstappen now making similar complaints.

The reigning world champion finished sixth at Monza and fifth in Baku, but when he took a step forward in Singapore, Perez remained lost. It was a weekend that damaged the goodwill he’d been slowly building.

There may be a feeling within the team that Perez has cost them any chance at retaining the constructors’ title. McLaren are now 41 points ahead after a recent change of leadership and they look set to only extend that margin.

2016 F1 world champion Nico Rosberg is baffled by Perez, who’s capable of beating Verstappen at his peak but struggles to score points at his lowest. Red Bull are simply waiting for an alternative option to show that they can be more consistent.