Perez’s Red Bull race seat still in danger

Sergio Perez’s race seat at Red Bull could still be in danger.

Before the team’s overall performance slumped in mid-2024, the gap between Perez and Max Verstappen was so stark that Red Bull seriously considered dropping him with immediate effect.

However, the Mexican survived Formula 1’s August break, even though one well-known journalist claimed mere days ago that Perez could actually announce his retirement at his home grand prix later this month.

The 34-year-old driver hit back hard, replying to the journalist’s tweet on X with a Wolf of Wall Street meme in which the actor declared: "I’m not leaving!"

However, also in the past several days, both Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko have reiterated that there is no guarantee Perez’s 2025-2026 contract will actually play out.

"There is only a guarantee in Formula 1 if you perform accordingly," Marko told sport.de.

"We all know that Checo has fluctuations," the Austrian added. "Especially when the car is changed at short notice, he needs more time to adapt."

Marko, 81, openly acknowledges that McLaren’s driver lineup is better overall than Red Bull’s.

"That is certainly a factor why McLaren is stronger than us at the moment in terms of driver pairing," he said, referring to Perez.

"In terms of speed, he can do it. He just has fluctuations that are becoming more and more unpredictable."

1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes it is often the case that Adrian Newey-designed Formula 1 cars only truly shine in the hands of a great driver.

"In my experience, Adrian Newey has always made very precise cars," he told Marca. "This is not a car for everyone.

"He makes cars for exceptional drivers, while the average driver will suffer in them. The exceptional driver only has a narrow window to work within, but they do very well within that window."

So with his personal driving struggles on top of declining team performance, internal turmoil and raging speculation about his future, Perez admits 2024 has been "really hard" so far.

"Imagine having a car with so many limitations that you start the weekend knowing that you can’t do anything about it," he told DAZN. "I thought I could crash at any moment, because I had no control over the car.

"And then there’s the pressure from the media that Red Bull brings you. Everyone - the people around you, the whole world - judges you, believing you are not as good as you used to be," Perez added.

"This year has been exceptionally difficult. My teammate was winning, he was doing well, and every time I was having problems."