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Marko made painfully correct prediction about Perez: 'Shouldn't have lived up to it'
- Cas van de Kleut
There has been a lot going on around Sergio Perez in recent weeks. Before the Canadian Grand Prix, his contract extension was announced worldwide. That same weekend, he qualified 16th, before crashing in the race. Helmut Marko tells Oe24. at that the plan around the Mexican's contract extension has not yet succeeded.
Perez was already in a down phase when his contract was renewed at Red Bull. Max Verstappen's teammate had just finished a bad weekend in Imola and a disastrous weekend in Monaco. Therefore, there was some surprise at the timing of the announcement of the contract extension.
Marko demands painful judgement on Perez
Marko initially wanted Perez to wait for a contract extension so he would not slack off. This did happen in Canada. Marko says: "He didn't have to comply. We extended his contract because we wanted to bring calm to our team. Unfortunately, that didn't work out. But now Checo has three races before the at three real circuits, so he can prove himself."
In Canada, Marko argued that with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, McLaren has the strongest driver duo on the grid. When pointed out to the top adviser that this does not speak in Perez's favour, he replied, "But that's the way it is. They [Norris and Piastri] are young and are always close to each other, especially in qualifying. And they will both improve, especially Piastri."
This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.