Is it time for Red Bull to axe Sergio Pérez?

In June earlier this year, Sergio Pérez signed a two-year extension agreement to continue with the reigning Constructors’ champions, Red Bull Racing, committing to stay with them until 2025. 

However, his recent slump in form has resulted in the Red Bull hierarchy questioning his ability to continue in his role as their second driver past the ongoing season’s finale in Abu Dhabi. 

Just like his first three seasons with the Milton Keynes–based outfit, Pérez had started this season strongly, claiming four podium finishes in his first five Grands Prix. However, since Miami, where he finished third in the Sprint and followed it up with a P4 finish in the Main Race, Pérez has failed to finish inside the top five in any of the next 15 races till São Paolo, which has resulted in Red Bull dropping down to third in the Constructors’ Standings, with Ferrari 13 points in front of them and McLaren, 36.  

With 21 rounds completed, Pérez is eighth in the Drivers’ Standings with just 151 points, while his teammate, Max Verstappen (393), is on the verge of winning the championship with a 62-point lead heading into Las Vegas. 

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By the time the Miami GP rolled around, Pérez had scored 103 points, while Verstappen had 136. The first six races make up roughly 70 percent of his entire season’s points tally. If we take the last ten Grands Prix—as far as Austria—into consideration, Verstappen has scored a total of 156 points, with Red Bull struggling to keep McLaren and Ferrari at bay, while Pérez has managed only 33. 

Pérez’ form has resulted in rumours emerging from inside the paddock that Red Bull Racing could be on the hunt for a new driver ahead of next season. Visa Cash App RB F1 Team (VCARB) driver Liam Lawson is being reported as a potential replacement for Pérez. The rumour mills went into even more of a frenzy when Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, was spotted entering the Williams motorhome eyeing Franco Colapinto as a prospect for either the second Red Bull seat or a place with VCARB next season. 

After VCARB had made the bold call of dropping eight-time Grand Prix winner Daniel Riccardo after the Singapore Grand Prix, Franz Tost roped in Red Bull academy driver Lawson to partner Yuki Tsunoda. In his three races with the sister Red Bull team, the young Kiwi has managed two points finishes: a stable P9 finish at the Circuit of the Americas followed by an even stronger P9 finish under torrential conditions in São Paolo. The same can’t be said for his Japanese teammate, however, who has struggled to put in consistent performances despite being in his fourth season with the Italian outfit. 

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Colapinto has emerged as a late left-field albeit credible contender for a seat in F1 next season. The 21-year-old Argentine came in as a replacement for American Logan Sargeant at Williams Racing but doesn’t have a seat for next year as Williams have already signed both Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon on long-term deals from 2025 onward. 

In his six races with Williams, Colapinto has hit the ground running right away with five championship points and has been an equal to Albon on more than one occasion, which has rarely been the case at Williams. It’s no wonder why he is now a highly-sought-after commodity on the grid. 

Moreover, trusting young drivers is back in fashion in F1, with Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman having also impressed in his super-sub appearances with Ferrari and Haas, which has landed him a seat with the latter for next year. Mercedes, too, have named their 18-year-old prodigy Kimi Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement, while Jack Doohan is set to debut with Alpine and Gabriel Bortoleto with Sauber/Audi.

Given the feeling currently emerging from the Red Bull paddock, irrespective of how Pérez fares in the last three races of the season, it seems imperative that Christian Horner and Helmut Marko look to give a young driver a run at the second Red Bull seat next year instead of the 34-year-old.