Sergio Perez the worst performing driver in F1? "He's damaged goods"
F1 News
Red Bull Racing stood by Sergio Perez earlier in the week by confirming that he will stay in the Red Bull seat beyond the summer break. But the heat and pressure remain on him as he continues to get slammed. Former F1 Grand Prix winner Johnny Hebert is the latest to criticise the Red Bull driver, this time branding him as "damaged goods" as he sees a mentally broken driver on the grid.
Perez has scored just 28 points since the Miami Grand Prix, which equates to just over one Grand Prix victory. Meanwhile, his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen scored 141 points and single-handedly kept the team ahead of McLaren in the Constructors Championship. Last time out in Belgium, Perez had a great chance of scoring decent points due to a front-row start, but he dropped back to P8 (which turned to P7 after Russell's DSQ). The last of the front-runners.
Still, Red Bull Racing held a meeting on Monday, and Christian Horner later told his team at the factory that Perez would keep his seat. After weeks of speculation and opinion from many F1 stakeholders, Red Bull backed their Mexican driver. But that hasn't stopped the heat or criticism as Herbert sees Perez leaving his teammate alone.
Why Herbert sees Perez as a 'broken man'
"Sergio Perez was the worst performing driver at the weekend [in Belgium] again. It is horrible to say but it is like he is damaged goods at the moment. He is a broken man mentally. There will normally be a performance clause within any contract, and that could allow Red Bull to terminate Perez’s contract because his performances have not been good enough for the last couple of years," Herbert is quoted by TopOffShoreSportsBrooks.com.
"The pressure on Max is huge. The Red Bull dominance of old has gone. That is not happening anymore. It’s all on his shoulders. You need two drivers to get as many points as you can, if you are not going to win a race as Max has been doing for the past couple of seasons."
The two drivers who were seemingly in the running to replace Perez, should it have been needed. Those were Liam Lawson and Daniel Ricciardo. But Herbert doesn't believe either of these should've been selected.
"Has Daniel earned a place at Red Bull? I don’t think so, at least not yet. He has not been strong enough against Yuki Tsunoda. Yuki is the one I would give a go to. His racing has improved. It would not be the Daniel of old who would be up against Max. When you get to that situation a team has to make a change but their choices are few. It looks like it will be either Ricciardo against whom there is a question mark, or Yuki," Herbert concluded.
But Red Bull Racing will not debate it. At the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, Sergio Perez will climb into the car as normal.