This summer, Red Bull will reassess Sergio Perez’s position following underwhelming results on the track.
Sergio Perez’s position within Red Bull’s Formula 1 team will indeed be “evaluated” during the upcoming summer break, according to advisor Helmut Marko.
Perez’s recent drop in competitiveness continued at Silverstone, where he finished 17th, leaving him with 15 points scored over the past six races.
The Mexican’s struggles now see him 137 points behind teammate Max Verstappen, amid rumors of point-related clauses in his contract.
Despite signing a multi-season extension earlier this season, sources suggest Red Bull could terminate the agreement if Perez is more than 100 points behind and/or more than 5 places in the championship standings behind his teammate.
Marko has nearly confirmed that these reports are accurate and revealed that internal discussions about Perez’s prospects at Red Bull would be held during the holidays. Could a change occur post-break?
“All Formula 1 contracts have exit clauses, most related to performance or let’s say to top drivers,” Marko told GrandPrix247.
“Unfortunately, our second driver is not performing as he should. So, we will evaluate what we are going to do during the summer break. We will conduct an evaluation during the summer break and then make a decision.”
With Red Bull not keen on promoting Yuki Tsunoda, Perez’s teammate at RB F1, Daniel Ricciardo, is considered the most likely to take Perez’s place if he were to be sidelined.
However, the Australian’s contract does not guarantee he will stay on the grid, as Marko stated that Red Bull’s shareholders want to see younger drivers.
Liam Lawson, who replaced Ricciardo when he was sidelined last season, is Red Bull’s reserve driver and tested the RB20 at Silverstone this week. He will also test a 2022 F1 car at Imola at the end of the month (either an AlphaTauri or a Red Bull).
Asked about the possibility of Lawson joining Red Bull if Perez loses his seat, Marko responded, “We have to see first. Lawson has tested at Silverstone. And yes, two more races (Budapest and Spa) and there will be more tests still with Lawson. Yuki Tsunoda is also doing very well.”
But Marko also suggested that Red Bull would “avoid” promoting Lawson to the main team and would rather place him at RB F1 to prevent him from being “burned” alongside Verstappen.
Meanwhile, the Austrian also praised Arvid Lindblad, a Red Bull prospect, who has impressed in Formula 3 this year with six victories, placing him third in the standings.
“First of all, I’m not looking for a new Max because Max is unique. And it will be difficult for anyone to be his teammate.”
“Lindblad is only 16 years old. So it’s hard to say, but you saw the race at Silverstone, the main race where he was under huge pressure from Gabriele Mini, in his second year, two years older and much more experienced. He held him off and in the end, Mini cooked his tires trying to catch up.”
“For his age, he is very mature and has a lot of confidence like Liam Lawson. Maybe the best thing to do would be to give them a year first at VCARB, then move to Red Bull Racing.”
“But they of course need to prepare more and they can’t just assume right away that we’re going to beat Max. It was a mistake, for example, Pierre Gasly thought he was as good as Max.”
“Maybe Lawson or Lindblad will be ready in two or three years for Red Bull Racing.”
“I don’t know if Max will be racing by then. If Max feels he no longer likes F1, that he doesn’t want it anymore, he will come and tell us ‘thanks, that’s it.'”
“He will continue racing. I guess one of his dreams is to go to Le Mans with Jos. That would be an experience.”
“I wouldn’t want to be the team director there because of those two strong characters. But it could be a fantastic experience.”
Perez’s F1 Seat in Doubt Red Bull to Review. Perez’s F1 Seat in Doubt Red Bull to Review
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