{"id":17828,"date":"2024-01-03T12:30:16","date_gmt":"2024-01-03T17:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=17828"},"modified":"2024-01-03T12:43:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-03T17:43:06","slug":"hakkinen-casts-verdict-on-sergio-perezs-red-bull-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/01\/03\/hakkinen-casts-verdict-on-sergio-perezs-red-bull-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Hakkinen casts verdict on Sergio Perez&#8217;s Red Bull future"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Two-time Champion Mika Hakkinen believes Sergio Perez is unlikely to continue with Red Bull beyond 2024.<\/h3>\n<p>In a similar fashion to last season, Sergio Perez is set to be at the forefront of driver market discussion. Following a difficult season at Red Bull, there will be no shortage of scrutiny for the 34-year-old to deal with.<\/p>\n<p>Despite finishing second in the standings, last year&#8217;s campaign was disappointing for the 6-time winner.<\/p>\n<p>Numerous poor qualifying performances compromised his chances to score points on Sunday, with Max Verstappen running away with the title.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from an encouraging opening few rounds, Perez was unable to match his teammate. As time progressed, F1 news headlines began speculating about his this form could impact his future.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"FfAzQW7_TwtjqyCQX-vYfg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1818073287\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'FfAzQW7_TwtjqyCQX-vYfg',sig:'cud-MeUYSvdybRA74wuIZSWhxz89SeFhpYZMb3WiXGk=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1818073287',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Daniel Ricciardo&#8217;s return added fuel to the fire, although his injury in Zandvoort largely derailed the momentum he was gathering.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the Australian&#8217;s performance in Mexico was a glimpse into what he could produce this season. AlphaTauri is a team undoubtedly on the ascendancy heading into 2024.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2023\/12\/30\/red-bull-reveal-liam-lawson-2024-f1-plans\/\" target=\"_self\">Liam Lawson&#8217;s trajectory<\/a> adds another variable to this equation. It seems inevitable he will earn an F1 contract, with Red Bull acutely aware of his potential.<\/p>\n<p>With this in mind, Sergio Perez must start strongly and &#8211; most importantly &#8211; sustain this performance throughout the season.<\/p>\n<p>However, his future will almost certainly be a topic of debate for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n<h3>F1 Champion doubts Perez&#8217;s chances<\/h3>\n<p>According to Mika Hakkinen, his days at the Austrian outfit are numbered:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;I know that having a Mexican driver is important for Red Bull,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rAxP100JQS4&amp;t=8s\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he said in an interview.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Mexico is a big market, which has its effect on things.\u00a0<\/em><em>But ultimately, you&#8217;re there to race and bring good results &#8211; and to develop the car faster.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;You can&#8217;t rely on one driver. You need to have two drivers on a certain level in order to develop the car.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Is Perez&#8217;s future at Red Bull? I think it&#8217;s highly unlikely.&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a id=\"_BePaUyGRth2cfw6ha_qeg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1814675024\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'_BePaUyGRth2cfw6ha_qeg',sig:'5ywWSyfu7gaz2gsXRkL4Fw_Udlnk64kOUn3yLGYl_Ng=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1814675024',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The comments of a Two-time Champion are certainly worth something, although they have no actual bearing on Perez&#8217;s future.<\/p>\n<p>Changing drivers always comes with an element of risk, so Red Bull will certainly welcome a more competitive season from Checo.<\/p>\n<p>However, Perez must earn a contract extension &#8211; especially as rivals progress and more alternatives become available.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, observing the head-to-head between the Red Bull and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/01\/01\/yuki-tsunoda-i-will-prove-to-be-top-f1-driver-in-2024\/\" target=\"_self\">AlphaTauri line-ups<\/a> in 2024 will be fascinating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two-time Champion Mika Hakkinen believes Sergio Perez is unlikely to continue with Red Bull beyond 2024. In a similar fashion to last season, Sergio Perez is set to be at the forefront of driver market discussion. Following a difficult season at Red Bull, there will be no shortage of scrutiny for the 34-year-old to deal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":17829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2220,68,23,1753,78,72],"class_list":["post-17828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2024-formula-1-season","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-mika-hakkinen","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-sergio-perez"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}