Rosberg Urges Red Bull: Drop Pérez Now

Nico Rosberg advises Red Bull to act fast and replace Pérez, highlighting the team’s scoring dilemma.

Nico Rosberg believes Red Bull should promptly consider parting ways with Sergio Pérez, as the Austrian team now faces a real threat from McLaren F1. The 2016 world champion even thinks Max Verstappen could be at risk if his teammate cannot assist him.

“For Red Bull, in the constructors’ championship, they are getting very nervous,” Rosberg stated on Sky F1. “Because right now, it seems like McLaren is going to win because Red Bull has only one driver who can score points.”

“So that’s the first fundamental thing, and it will only make things more difficult. The decision with Pérez, they almost need to seize their chance now and see if another driver would do a bit better because it’s worth taking a risk.”

“Otherwise, it’s almost certain they’ll lose the championship to McLaren. The drivers’ championship, for now, is still a bit more comfortable, but it can also become very intense.”

The German compares Red Bull’s duo with those of other top teams, which he considers superior to the pairing of the world champion team: “The other teams they are facing have such strong driver duos that it’s imperative for Checo to get results.”

“I know Red Bull has this theory that they don’t want a situation where two drivers are taking points from each other. They clearly want a number one driver and someone to assist, but they still need to be there to score points.”

However, Rosberg thinks choosing Liam Lawson, as Helmut Marko has suggested, would be “a very high risk because it’s an unknown.” And if Daniel Ricciardo or Yuki Tsunoda were chosen, he’s not sure the results would be better.

“It’s a very difficult choice for Red Bull. I still think it might even come down to Spa. Let’s see how Spa goes. Because the problem is that they don’t really have an alternative, in my opinion, who will definitely do better than Sergio on the track.”