Problems in Imola: Perez seriously jeopardises his future at Red Bull
General
- Ludo van Denderen
With his crash in the third free practice and downright poor qualifying, Sergio Perez did himself no favours. At a time when Red Bull Racing must decide on a new contract for the Mexican, he was just fiddling around (almost as usual) on the Saturday before the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. So just when Perez is not using it, he is emphatically playing with fire.
Could it be a repeat of last season? Then, too, Sergio Perez started the year very decently and the Mexican secretly felt he could compete with Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen for the world title. But that was before the European part of the season had begun. Once in Europe, Perez stood out mainly because of silly slips, difficult qualifying and, above all, many lost points. In the end, Perez still finished second in the championship - by heels, though - and thus saved his position at Red Bull.
Updates at Red Bull? That struggles Perez
Early on in the current season, Perez said he expected talks on a new contract with the Austrian team to take place shortly. According to the Mexican, there was no need for long talks, as he boasted a strong start to the season; just as the team required of him. But in Imola, the old Perez was back. For a while? Like a year ago, Perez seems to be struggling as Red Bull continues to develop the car - in a direction that pleases Max Verstappen.
Right on the weekend of the first serious updates, things went wrong for Perez, who unlike Verstappen never seemed to feel completely happy in the RB20. Instead of then taking no unnecessary risks and, above all, putting in a solid performance, Perez flew off the track in the closing free practice. After hard work by his mechanics to get his car ready for qualifying, he failed to impress in it. So while Verstappen drove to pole, Perez did not get through Q2. A disgrace, there is no other word.
Horner and Marko see history repeating itself
That Perez is not as good as Verstappen is no secret. But even with a Red Bull that is not quite optimally tuned to the Mexican's driving style, he should at least manage to reach the top ten in qualifying. Failure to do so then will no doubt raise eyebrows with Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, the men who ultimately have to decide whether or not to present Perez with a new contract.
It probably does not help then that Perez - not for the first time either - is anything but self-critical about his performance. After qualifying, the Mexican said, "I think I've had a pretty strong weekend up to now. In terms of pace, in terms of long run pace, in terms of confidence, I think we've been making that sort of progress, but I think it was just a very unfortunate qualification session," Perez said.
Overtaking on the Imola circuit is difficult, if not almost impossible. In advance, it seems an impossible task for Perez to still drive to the podium. If he crosses the line in sixth or seventh place later on Sunday, Imola will have turned out to be a lost weekend. One like he had so many in '23. And precisely that is the last thing Red Bull wants from him now. So if Perez really wants a new contract, Imola qualifying must be a one-off, negative outlier. Otherwise, it could be a tricky story for him.