Listen in full to the latest Sky Sports F1 Podcast below as guests Bernie Collins and Craig Slater discuss more on Red Bull's decision to keep faith with Sergio Perez, the rationale behind Carlos Sainz choosing Williams for 2025, and the reasons for George Russell's Spa exclusion
Wednesday 31 July 2024 09:22, UK
Sergio Perez will return from F1's summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix in late August still in his Red Bull seat next to Max Verstappen and still with a big role to play in their attempt to defend the constructors' world title amid an ever-growing challenge from McLaren.
After weeks of speculation and mounting pressure on the Mexican's shoulders amid a sustained slump in form, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and motorsport advisor Helmut Marko discussed Perez's future during a meeting at the world champions' Milton Keynes base on Monday, with the former deciding that there would be no change to their line-up when the season resumes at Zandvoort on August 23-25.
Informing his team of the status quo, Horner is understood to have said in a speech: "Checo remains a Red Bull Racing driver despite recent speculation and we look forward to seeing him perform at tracks he has previously excelled at after the summer break."
Red Bull's hierarchy also decided against any immediate change at sister outfit RB where Daniel Ricciardo partners Yuki Tsunoda, meaning highly-rated reserve driver Liam Lawson remains on the sidelines for now.
One day on and Red Bull's decision to stick with Perez beyond the summer break was a central topic of conversation on the latest edition of the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.
Former F1 strategist Bernie Collins, who worked closely with Perez in 2015-2020 when the Mexican drove for the Force India/Racing Point team, said she was surprised by the timeline around the eventual decision but believes Red Bull must have concluded there was no immediate alternative in their stable who would immediately clearly perform better.
"I'm surprised that if that was the decision they were going to come to, that it didn't even happen earlier if they were going to get there," said Collins on the podcast.
"He obviously had a very, very strong qualifying in Spa. But it was right on a knife edge, he nearly went out at the end of Q2, so it was close to being either P15 or the P2 he ended up.
"So it was really close, and that wasn't all down to Checo.
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"In many ways they have to look at their championship and say: 'Who could we put in that seat that is guaranteed to do a better job for the remaining 10 races?'
"And I don't think, given everything that's going on, you know, a few races ago, we were talking about was Ricciardo safe if in that [RB] seat and we've gone through this cycle of all of it.
"So I don't think they can look at the two that they have in the junior team at the moment and say definitely they are going to do a better job. And that I think is what's been the key point of this decision."
Despite the early signs of a dip in form after a strong start to the 2024 season when he finished on the podium in four of the first five races, Perez was handed a two-year contract extension by Red Bull on the eve of the Canadian GP in early June.
Although the deal, as is the norm for driver contracts in F1, is thought to contain certain performance clauses and options at various stages.
But will Perez now at least see out the remainder of the current campaign?
Joining Collins and host Matt Baker on the podcast, Sky Sports News reporter Craig Slater said he suspected it was not certain that would definitely be the case yet with McLaren emerging as a serious threat for the Constructors' Championship having closed down Red Bull's lead to just 42 points.
"I don't think it's an absolute given he does complete the season. I think Christian Horner would like him to," suggested Slater.
"I'm a big fan of Checo's, I think he's great, and I want him to finish the season strongly as well, but I don't necessarily think it's out of the question that, if things don't pick up in these races after the resumption, the talk will swirl around again if the title is in the balance."
The season resumes with races on consecutive weekends in Zandvoort and Monza - where Perez finished fourth and second respectively last year - followed by a week's break and then another back-to-back in Azerbaijan, where he is a two-time winner, and Singapore, where the Mexican won impressively in 2022.
With the reigning champions and title leaders coming under sustained pressure from rivals at the front of F1 for the first time in two years, Red Bull will be looking for similarly front-running form from the Mexican in the coming months if they are to stem McLaren's points onslaught.
Slater also suggested that, significantly, the call to persevere with Verstappen ultimately rested with Horner.
"It would have been a Helmut Marko decision this [in the past], it was a Christian Horner decision, and that might be significant," added Slater.
"I think Marko is more of 'the tinkerman' - he likes to move people around quite ruthlessly. I think Horner takes a view there's upheaval in all of that, so they really gain so much?
"Ricciardo has not really been banging on the door hard. They don't for whatever reason want to promote Tsunoda, and Lawson is a bit of an unknown quantity. So it's not straightforward what to do.
"We have to remember a lot of good drivers have really struggled [next to Verstappen]. So he's not really exceptional in that sense, Checo.
"He has got about 35 per cent of the points that Max has. It's right to say if that persists with the scoring they've had, they won't win the Constructors' Championship. Senior figures in Red Bull have been saying to Horner: 'look at this, can't ignore the facts, it's your decision ultimately...' and so far he is keeping Checo in situ."
Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 23-25, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime
