Sergio Perez has once again been outplayed by teammate Max Verstappen this season, but replacing the Mexican will not be a simple task for Red Bull.
Racing legend Tom Coronel believes Red Bull face a tough task in replacing Sergio Perez, even if he commits a “serious mess” in his charge this season .
The Mexican driver is ranked 2nd in the rankings but only 30 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who is significantly behind Mercedes. And Perez is more than 200 points behind teammate Max Verstappen, who claimed his third Formula 1 title with five rounds remaining.
The 33-year-old’s difficulties have led to much speculation about his future with the team. And the scrutiny has only intensified in recent weeks thanks to his worst form of the year – scoring just five points in the last three full racing weekends. “Very unsatisfactory. A very unsatisfactory result,” said Coronel, a veteran of more than 1,000 races in various motorsport series. He was referring to last weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, in which Perez finished 10th after receiving three separate penalties for violating track limits multiple times.
The Colonel continued:
“It’s not because I don’t understand it all, but because people look at it in a very logical way: one Red Bull is in the lead and the other Red Bull is doing damage and lying around somewhere in the middle of the field. You don’t have to be an expert to tell he’s making a serious mess.”
Pérez has a contract with Red Bull for next season which the team has announced its intention to honor. Whether this happens or not remains to be seen, but in any case, team principal Christian Horner has stated that he will consider his options to see who can replace the German player. Mexico when his contract expires.
But Coronel believes it will be difficult to find the right candidate who can deliver on his promises without causing conflict with Verstappen. The 51-year-old mentioned Hamilton and George Russell’s partnership at Mercedes as he warned of what could happen.
The Colonel added:
“If you put a good driver next to Max, you get two kicks. So the Russell-Hamilton effect. Sometimes I also have the impression that Red Bull is doing well this way. “We have a winner, what difference does it make? Then we let the other person do the cleaning. Then you must use it for this. He won’t win the race for you, or at least not the championship.”
Horner himself has said that Red Bull would be in danger if the team placed a driver next to Verstappen, who intends to beat the Dutchman. “If you put alphas on a team that are too demanding, it will tear that team apart,” he recently told Sky Sports.
If he decides not to bring in such a number, that would clearly rule out someone like Lando Norris, who is closely linked to Red Bull but would hardly agree to play second fiddle to a other riders. Not wanting to cause a rift with Verstappen could significantly limit the number of drivers the team can choose from.
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