Sergio Perez ended the 2023 season with a whimper, sparking rumors of leaving Red Bull early.
Sergio Perez is having a miserable end to the 2023 season, earning only 1 point and 3 penalties in the final round in Qatar. Those performances sparked rumors that he could be on the verge of being fired by Red Bull soon.
The 33-year-old is now an unprecedented 209 points behind teammate and three-time world champion Max Verstappen with five races still to go. Additionally, Perez risks losing P2 in the Drivers’ Championship with Lewis Hamilton close behind. Although he is still under contract until 2024, rumors of a move away at the end of 2023 have been fueled by Helmut Marko’s recent comments with the Austrian suggesting Checo would be better off in a do something else and should leave Red Bull to get the best for yourself. career.
If performances do not improve and Red Bull decides to pull the trigger, Christian Horner has three obvious replacements he could call upon at short notice. Here are the arguments for and against this trio.
Yuki Tsunoda
Of the three options available to Horner and Red Bull, Tsunoda is the least likely to join the senior team in the short term. That said, the Japanese rider has impressed with consistent performances throughout 2023 and he has comfortably dominated Nyck de Vries during his short time as team-mate. Unfortunately for the 23-year-old, the arrival of Liam Lawson has sent his stock plummeting with the decision to even keep him at AlphaTauri until 2024. Tsunoda has been linked with a move to Aston Martin for the foreseeable future, with Red Bull bosses still unconvinced of his ability to make an impact at the highest level.
Liam Lawson
While an anonymous afternoon at the Qatar Grand Prix ended Lawson’s disappointing run of appearances, Lawson’s reputation has grown enormously since replacing Daniel Ricciardo at Zandvoort.
The 21-year-old is expected to take a season off as a Red Bull test and reserve rider next year, but being the only independent rider in the trio That choice may be in his hands. His finish would also elevate him up the pecking order, although Red Bull bosses will be reluctant to pit him against Verstappen so early in his F1 career. Daniel Ricciardo
Given the options available to Red Bull, if someone needs to replace Perez in the team’s ranks, Ricciardo is the man most likely to do so. The popular Australian may have only completed two races this season, but he will be in the driver’s seat to replace Checo in 2025 if the Mexican finishes his contract with the team.
Horner and Marko have been highly complimentary of the eight-time Grand Prix winner’s work in the simulator throughout the winter and early stages of this campaign, and Ricciardo is said to be a familiar figure to the engineers has spent 5 seasons with the team from 2014 to present. 2018.
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