Lewis Hamilton believes Sergio Perez isn’t receiving the necessary support from Red Bull to perform at his best.
Despite his battle with Perez for P2 in the standings, Lewis Hamilton has offered words of encouragement towards Sergio Perez. The British driver argues that the 33-year-old receives excessive scrutiny and negativity from Red Bull.
Perez’s performances have been one of the biggest talking points in F1 this season. Initially, there were suggestions he could challenge Verstappen after taking two wins in the opening four races.
Unfortunately for Checo, things unravelled quickly. A series of tricky weekends in Australia, Monaco and Canada saw him looking behind in the standings – rather than ahead towards his teammate.
There have been several consequences of this, including scrutiny of Perez’s position at Red Bull. Whilst F1 news outlets have spoken extensively on this issue, these conversations have also been triggered by comments within the Austrian team.
Helmut Marko is well-known for his brutally honest remarks, and he’s given many towards the Mexican driver.
Hamilton critical of Red Bull environment
Although Hamilton doesn’t reference Marko directly, he suggests that some at Red Bull aren’t giving Perez the necessary support:
“I haven’t gone through exactly what is happening to Sergio Perez. But as a driver, I understand the psychological and mental pressures” he told Fox Sports Mexico.
“They weigh so heavily on you and is very difficult to explain with words…
“I don’t think his team have been massively supportive. I wouldn’t say ‘the team’, because there’s a lot of members in a team. But there has been one particular spokesperson has not been really great in helping Psychologically.
“If I heard Toto talking negatively about me on the weekends, it would be very tough.
“So he’s in a very difficult environment, but I think he’s able to deal with it.”
Nowhere to hide at Red Bull
Hamilton’s assessment hits some important points which are applicable to the Red Bull setup more generally. Even for drivers at AlphaTauri, there is still immense pressure to perform and earn a contract extension.
Although this is not unique to the Milton Keynes’ outfit, their willingness to swap and replace drivers is unmatched in F1.
It should be noted that, for most of the season, team principal Christian Horner has supported Perez through his difficulties. Considering the Mexican driver’s struggles, there is still a willingness within the team to see him succeed.
With that said, the signing of Daniel Ricciardo was clearly designed to give the Austrian squad another option to evaluate. They are well within their rights to do this, especially with the strong lineups forming at teams like McLaren.
Still, some would argue this approach is not the best environment for drivers to succeed. Others would counter this by stating that, in F1, such pressure is part of the job description.
Looking ahead, it will be intriguing to observe how the Red Bull-Perez dynamic evolves – especially in 2024.
