Sergio Perez suffered another disappointing event in the F1 Qatar Sprint, as pressure continues to mount from Red Bull.
A difficult qualifying in Qatar put Perez in a relatively underwhelming starting position for today’s Sprint race. This impacted his prospects of securing points for Red Bull, especially after losing crucial positions on lap one.
In theory, the Mexican driver was the only person capable of denying Verstappen of the F1 World Championship. However, it cannot be said this was a realistic or even primary aim for the 33-year-old.
Instead, this weekend represented a chance for Sergio Perez to alleviate some of the speculation surrounding his future. This would have been especially meaningful given his recent criticisms of the media’s coverage of his performances.
Unfortunately, an unlucky incident with Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg took away a chance of points on Saturday.
Speaking to the media after the Sprint, Perez expressed his frustrations:
“It was very difficult to start on the medium tyres with all the Safety Cars there wre. It was difficult to recover temperature on the mediums.
“Once we started I was going to pass Hulkenberg and then Ocon, there was contact between them, I was alongside and Ocon hit into me.
“[There is] a lot of damage to my car. Unfortunately, there is a lot damage, and we will see if we have more provlems tomrorow…
“We are more competitive in the race, the car is more predictable too. Once the tyres are up to temperature, we were fast and had pace, but unfortunately we couldn’t use it.”
Pessimism from Red Bull
Heading into this weekend, there have been a series of comments from Red Bull concerning Perez – either directly or indirectly. The first is a general scepticism from Helmut Marko about his chances of finishing P2 in the Championship.
Of course, these comments are far from ideal. Marko seems especially aware of the threat Lewis Hamilton poses in the W14 machine.
With that said, the more pressing statements were not in direct relation to the 6-time race winner. These quotes were also from Helmut Marko, who outlined some of the long-term expectations at Red Bull.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the Red Bull advisor is regarding Liam Lawson, who he says will almost certainly have a seat in 2025. LWOS has previously reported that Lawson has received guarantees from Red Bull for the 2025 season.
Increasing pressure
To a large extent, these assurances contributed to his reserve contract for next season. However, more recently, Helmut Marko has insisted that Lawson will earn a promotion by 2025 at the very latest.
Several interpretations can be made here, with the first being that Red Bull is anticipating changes within the next twelve months. More pressingly, it seems logical to infer that a driver change will likely occur at the main team.
After all, the decision to offer Ricciardo an AlphaTauri deal was to determine if he could drive at Red Bull for the major honours is F1.
With the Australian confirmed for next year’s campaign, there will be an unprecedented level of scrutiny across the two Red Bull-owned outfits. This will only worsen the frustration that Perez experiences after sessions such as the Qatar Sprint.
It must be stressed that one bad performance does not set anything in stone for next season. Still, the potential for Sergio Perez to lose P2 in the Championship – and the possible consequences at Red Bull – cannot be overlooked.
