F1 News
Brown BRACED for Abu Dhabi showdown if this Red Bull weakness is exploited
Zak Brown has identified Sergio Perez's weak results in the 2024 Formula 1 season and insists they will give McLaren the chance to fight for the Constructors' Championship in Abu Dhabi should it continue. McLaren wants to exploit this weakness, and if done, Brown believes an Abu Dhabi showdown is on the cards in December.
After many media comments and deliberation going into the summer break, Red Bull decided to keep Perez in the team alongside Max Verstappen. After winning the constructors' championship comfortably in 2023, McLaren are now knocking on the door and threatening their run of titles. The gap is now down to 42 points, a deficit that could be overturned in just one single Grand Prix weekend.
Out of Red Bull's 408 points, Perez has only collected 131, while his teammate earned 277 points after 14 Grands Prix. Most of Perez's points came in the early rounds of the championship when Red Bull was still ahead performance-wise. Since the Miami Grand Prix weekend in early May, Perez has scored just 28 points. He received a lot of praise for his front-row starting position in Belgium, only to drop backwards on Sunday. He crossed the Spa finish line in eighth, last of the front runners.
McLaren target Red Bull weakspot
McLaren are the team best placed to attack Red Bull, and Brown knows that his team can achieve something special if Perez's form continues. "It's going to be tough. I think it's going to come down to the last race," Brown told BBC Sport.
"There's not much between the cars. It's gonna come down to how does Sergio Perez perform? If he can perform as he's capable of performing, it's going to be a hard fight. If he continues to perform as he has this year, we have a pretty good chance because we have two drivers constantly performing at the front."
GPblog learned that Christian Horner informed Red Bull Racing staff of the decision at the start of the summer break and said: "Checo remains a Red Bull Racing driver despite recent speculation and we look forward to seeing him perform at tracks he has previously excelled at after the summer break."
With that decision, Perez will continue at Red Bull. The second half of the season includes the Azerbaijan Grand Prix - which Perez has won twice - and the Singapore Grand Prix, which he won in 2022. Though McLaren - and others - are applying much more pressure in 2024.