Compliments as well as a critical note: Did Perez save his place at Red Bull?
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- Ludo van Denderen
It ended up being seventh. A cynic would say that Sergio Perez finished 'only' two places behind his teammate Max Verstappen in the Hungarian Grand Prix, which is usually a fine performance. Moreover, the Mexican himself was reasonably happy and his team boss Christian Horner praised 'Checo' for his 'probably strongest race since China'. But is it all enough for Perez to keep his place at Red Bull Racing?
Of course, as a driver at the absolute top, you are judged on results. That is why you are paid extremely well. Then when the results fall short of the sky-high expectations, criticism comes. A lot of criticism even. In that case, you get the media on your back, over and over again, and they keep on asking you brutal questions like do you still have the confidence to achieve a top performance?
Perez under enormous pressure at Red Bull
Actually, it is quite sad, because Sergio Perez is an extremely friendly guy. Someone who will never refuse an autograph or photo to a fan, someone who takes pride in being allowed to compete in Formula 1. But he is also someone who is under immense pressure and is currently being rocked by everything and everyone. After qualifying last Saturday - in which he crashed his RB20 in Q1 - Perez seemed completely broken. No, he did not want to give up, he said at the time. That would set a bad example for his children. He is not like that. He is a fighter.
At the Hungarian Grand Prix, something of the old Perez was back. He drove a flawless race with a tricky car and so ended up finishing seventh. Looking back on the weekend, he later said to a question from GPblog: "Positive in regards to the pace, very negative with my mistake of yesterday, but head down. The season is long, and the most important thing is that the pace is there."
Horner is positive and critical of Perez
The season is still long, the only question is whether Perez will be in action at all Grands Prix or cast aside by Red Bull after the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix. The Austrians will evaluate the situation after Spa. Listening to team boss Christian Horner, there was at least some satisfaction with Sunday's performance. "He should take some confidence out of today's race. If he had qualified more in position yesterday, you could see he would have been in a much more competitive position," Horner said.
But that is precisely the problem for Perez: top one day and disappointing the next. When Horner was told that fact, the Brit said: "Yes. It's something that has to change." And so for that, Perez probably has one weekend, next week, in Belgium.