Perez Replacement Urged as Red Bull Faces Constructors' Crisis
Jul.11 - Two former Formula 1 stars have named the driver they think should urgently replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull.
Despite his recently-extended contract, the Mexican's place alongside Max Verstappen is still in doubt due to performance clauses, given the extent of his current slump.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown even senses an opportunity to beat Red Bull to the constructors' world championship.
"Sergio is not performing well," he said, "and that gives us an opportunity."
Former Haas boss Gunther Steiner agrees the risk is very real for Red Bull.
"Now McLaren have a good car, two good drivers, and at Red Bull they have to be careful who comes behind them now," he told French broadcaster Canal Plus.
"Red Bull has never been afraid to make these kinds of decisions. Clearly, he (Perez) doesn't deserve his place."
However, former F1 driver Christijan Albers thinks that amid the power struggle and turmoil at Red Bull this year, re-signing Perez was a "panic action" designed purely "to please (Max) Verstappen".
"But the competition is closer now," he told De Telegraaf, "so those five or six tenths (per lap) hurt. He is now even outside the top ten."
Another ex-driver, Giedo van der Garde, believes the turning point in Perez's fate could be the moment Verstappen publicly declares that he needs a better teammate.
"He'll say: he (Perez) is not doing well, and it's important that we become constructors' champions, so put someone else in'," the Dutchman told drs De Race Show podcast.
Daniel Ricciardo has been named as one potential replacement for Perez, but he has struggled to even keep up with his RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda this year - who does not appear to be a major candidate for a Red Bull Racing promotion.
"There is actually only one simple choice," van der Garde said. "Not Ricciardo, because he still performs worse than Tsunoda. Ricciardo should finish his year and then do something else.
"I say, just put Liam Lawson in. He is a rookie, and he can still learn a lot from Max. Nobody expects much from him, because he is still a rookie," he added.
"Max gets along fine with Lawson, and he's no threat to Max either. So why wouldn't you put him in?"
Albers agrees: "Just throw Lawson in there. What do they have to lose? They are already outside the top ten with Perez anyway," the former Minardi driver added.
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
Refering to Christian Albers and Giedo van der Garde as "Formula 1 stars" is really stretching the truth.
To borrow an expression from the late great Barry Sheen, they are legends in their own lunch time! Neither of them had any impact on F1. Albers competed in 46 F1 races for a total of 4 points. Van der Garde was predominantly a test driver for a number of teams and competed in 19 races with Caterham for zero points.
Zak Brown's comment that "Sergio is not performing well," is a gross understatement. Give Lawson a shot! I am sure his results will surpass Checko's.
The author of the article remains anonymous while slagging Ricciardo - again. I will repeat the old adage - "The Car makes the driver". Put Ricciardo in the Red Bull and he'd do way better than staying at Visa Cash App.
Speaking of which, MadMax ain't doing so well now that his once indominable chassis has grown warts. Oh, and Lucy winning a race after a 900+ day drought - as before, his chassis won the race for him.
If Riccardo can’t successfully compete with Yuki, what makes anyone think, he can compete with Verstappen. Liking someone’s personality is totally irrelevant. He left RB because he wasn’t competitive, as well as Renault and McClaren. He isn’t competitive in the car he’s in now.
That's because it's a s_itty car. Let's face it, the spectrum of driving talent isn't really that broad. On one end there are truly gifted drivers, like: Max, Lucy, Fernando, and at the shallower end: Tsunoda. Sargeant, Stroll. Are they better drivers than most? Hell, yes.
Yet, the spectrum of cars is far broader and their performance has dramatic effect upon their driver's fortunes. I'll bet that if the top three drivers were to take one step to the right, and drive their rival's cars, the results would be the same.