Sergio Perez is facing an uncertain future at Red Bull following a run of poor form that culminated in a ‘horrible’ outing at his home Grand Prix in Mexico.
Perez failed to make it out of the first session of qualifying on Saturday and came into the race starting P18. A false start resulted in a five-second penalty and several on track clashes left his car damaged as he finished last of the 17 drivers to finish the race.
The no-points finish also contributed to Red Bull dropping to third in the constructors’ standings as Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished first and third respectively to jump Ferrari ahead of them.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was bullish in his summation of Perez’s form which has plummeted since May resulting in a shocking second half to the season for his team.
“You know, there comes a point in time that difficult decisions have to be made,” said Horner. “We’re now third in the constructors’ championship.
“Our determination is to try and get back into a winning position but it’s going to be a tall order over these next four races.”
Perez’s Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen, continues to lead the drivers’ championship and finished sixth in Mexico despite receiving a 20-second penalty for various engagements with world title rival Lando Norris.
His success further cements the contrast between both drivers and Horner refused to confirm whether Perez would keep his seat for the rest of the season.
He said: “He knows Formula One is a results-based business and inevitably when you’re not delivering then the spotlight is firmly on you.”
Horner also acknowledged that Perez had been ‘under-performing’ and labelled his weekend in Mexico as ‘horrible’ which increasingly adds to the scrutiny.
“As a team we need both cars scoring points and that’s the nature of Formula One,” he added. “We’re working with him as hard as we can to try and support him. I think we’ve done everything that we can to support Checo and we’ll continue to do so in Brazil next weekend.
“But there comes a point in time that you can only do so much.”
Horner confirmed Perez would start the next race in Brazil so he is in no immediate danger of being replaced but Horner is known to be ruthless and should his form not recover then Verstappen may find himself with a new grid partner when Formula reaches Las Vegas in November.
