Red Bull Sport boss Helmut Marko explains which factors spoke in favor of Sergio Perez remaining in the Formula 1 team and which were not relevant
Sergio Perez will remain Max Verstappen’s Formula 1 team-mate beyond the summer break. Red Bull confirmed this after the Belgian Grand Prix. And this should not be seen as a favor to Formula 1 owner Liberty Media, as Red Bull’s Head of Sport Helmut Marko explains in his Speedweek column
The article states: “Reports that his continued commitment is due to Liberty Media’s wish for him to drive in Mexico are not true. They certainly want him to compete in his home race, but our choice of driver is not based on Liberty’s intentions.”
So what prompted Red Bull to give Perez another chance? Marko says: “Sergio was still our best solution given the alternatives.”
Marko doesn’t say it directly, but he hints at it: Compared to Perez, he does not consider the current Racing Bulls drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda or the current Red Bull replacement driver Liam Lawson to be stronger.
But Perez has been warned: it’s not just that his cockpit has been in question recently. Results must now follow. Or as Marko puts it: “Perez doesn’t have to become faster, but more consistent.”
After a solid start to the season, Perez lacked precisely the consistency Marko was referring to: After an initial run of six top five results in a row, Perez only managed five points-scoring results at all on the remaining eight race weekends before the summer break, with two seventh places as his best performance.
However, Marko is hopeful that Perez will be able to do better again after the summer break. Reason: “There are now tracks coming up on which he was good last year.”
But “good” is relative: from Zandvoort to Abu Dhabi 2023, Perez’s team-mate Verstappen won nine out of ten Grands Prix on his way to the world title. Only in Singapore was Verstappen not victorious. Perez, on the other hand, only achieved podium finishes for Red Bull in Monza and Las Vegas. And he did not score any points at all in two Grands Prix