General
How the lack of an alternative keeps Perez at Red Bull Racing
- Ludo van Denderen
Immediately after the Belgian Grand Prix, Sergio Perez boarded a private plane that took him to Guadalajara, Mexico. There in his hometown, Max Verstappen's teammate at Red Bull Racing hopes to unwind in the coming days, after months of speculation about his future at the Austrian racing team. Perez will re-join Red Bull after the summer break - which was decided by team management on Monday - and that must feel like a relief to Perez, although the outside world will wonder why Red Bull is keeping him on?
In Milton Keynes this Monday, there was a meeting between team boss Christian Horner and external advisor Helmut Marko. One of the topics was Perez's future at Red Bull Racing; the driver who disappointed Marko just last Sunday. On the other hand, there was Horner, who also seemed to be sticking up for Perez at Spa, who was eventually classified seventh after starting from P2. Not a result to be proud of, especially looking at the constructors' championship. And that was by no means the first time Perez failed to convince.
Red Bull's constructors' title in jeopardy
This makes it more unlikely by the week that Red Bull will be able to hold the - currently still - lead over McLaren until the end, with Max Verstappen almost single-handedly going up against Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Undoubtedly, Red Bull has also weighed up whether having Perez gives them the best chance of winning that title, and so the answer to that question has turned out to be 'yes', otherwise Perez would have been replaced.
Possibly a factor in this is the uncertainty that a new driver alongside Verstappen brings anyway. There were only two candidates if Perez left; Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson. The former is a friend of Horner, but even the team boss finds it hard to ignore the fact that the Australian is no longer a shadow of the driver he was in the past. To put it somewhat bluntly, swapping Perez with Ricciardo could just be a waste of time.
Lawson didn't convince enough either
Liam Lawson is a strong talent, but not a potential world champion. If Red Bull had seen that potential in the current reserve driver, the New Zealander would have been driving the Visa Cash App RB car a long time ago. Although Lawson performed fine as a substitute for Ricciardo at then AlphaTauri at five Grands Prix in 2023, he failed to convince the management that he deserved a chance. Not good enough for VCARB, then good enough to become Verstappen's regular teammate? Red Bull apparently thinks not.
The conclusion can thus be drawn that it is mainly the lack of an alternative that keeps Perez in the seat at Red Bull Racing. Had a structurally better and more reliable driver been available mid-season, the Mexican's fate could easily have been sealed. But Lawson and Ricciardo do not seem a huge improvement and, besides, they bring as many uncertainties, as Perez does. So on with the Mexican then, was no doubt the thinking.