Sergio Perez could be dumped from his Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen as early as next month, despite the ink on a new two-year deal having barely dried.
The Mexican has scored just 15 points in the six races since since his fourth place in the Miami Grand Prix in early May. Verstappen has scored 119, including three wins.
The form slump has left Red Bull vulnerable to Ferrari and the much-improved McLaren in its quest for a third straight constructors’ championship.
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“He (Perez) knows it’s unsustainable to not be scoring points,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said at Silverstone.
“We have to be scoring points in that car and he knows that. He knows his role and his target, so nobody is more eager than Checo to find his form again.”
Sergio Perez could lose his seat as early as next month. NurPhoto via Getty Images
The target comment is pointed – Perez reportedly has a clause in this new contract that could be triggered if he falls more than 100 points behind Verstappen.
According to motorsport.com, those points are the midseason break, which will begin after the Belgian Grand Prix in two races time, and also the end of the season.
After Silverstone, he sits 137 points behind Verstappen with only two races to make up the difference. The bare minimum required to overhaul that difference would be to win and finish second in the next two races, or finish second with the fastest lap in each.
Crucially, both scenarios would also require Verstappen to retire. Given the three-time world champion has had only three retirements since the start of the 2022 season – accounting for three of the teams’ five mechanical retirements in the same period – it’s highly unlikely.
Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner. Photo by Peter Fox/ Formula 1 via Getty Images
Equally concerning for Perez, Liam Lawson will this week get a steer of both his and Verstappen’s Red Bulls in an aero test at Silverstone this week.
Although Horner downplayed the significance of the test, it will no doubt serve as an evaluation of the young Kiwi, in a similar way Ricciardo’s tyre test last season led to his promotion back into a race seat.
“The Liam aero run has been planned for a couple of months now and for Checo, of course he’s under pressure – that’s normal in Formula 1,” Horner said.
“And when you’re under delivering, that pressure only mounts. He’s aware of that, he knows that and this weekend nothing has gone his way.”
Perez started at the back of the grid after he spun out of qualifying and got stuck in the gravel. Formula 1 via Getty Images
Should the test be a success, the team could elevate Lawson into a race seat at RB, and potentially move Daniel Ricciardo to the senior team. Yuki Tsunoda is not believed to be under consideration for the drive.
Lawson starred for Alpha Tauri last season while deputising for Ricciardo, and is in-line for a race seat at the team now known as RB next season.
Another option would be to promote him straight into the senior team in a sink-or-swim situation. Given it would be difficult for Lawson to do any worse than Perez in what’s still considered to be the quickest car on the grid, such a move isn’t too outrageous.
After Miami, Red Bull held a 52-point buffer over Ferrari, and a 115-point buffer over McLaren. In the six races since, McLaren have scored 171 points to Red Bull’s 134 to reduce the deficit to 78 points.
Perez during the British Grand Prix weekend. NurPhoto via Getty Images
At that rate, it will take McLaren 12 races to move past Red Bull to win the Constructors’ Championship. There are 12 races remaining in the season.
McLaren have also lost points on several occasions.
Oscar Piastri had an off weekend in Spain and finished seventh (still one place ahead of Perez), Lando Norris should’ve won in Austria had it not been for some dodgy defensive tactics from Verstappen, and both drivers arguably could’ve and should’ve won at Silverstone had it not been for several strategic blunders.
After the gruelling Spain-Austria-Great Britain triple header, F1 has this week off before another double header at Hungary and Belgium before the three-week midseason break.