Sergio Perez has signed a new contract that could keep him at Red Bull until the end of the 2026 season. Perez joined the team back in 2021 after losing his seat at Racing Point.
Despite a sensational maiden victory at the Sakhir Grand Prix, Perez was at risk of losing his spot on the grid after Lawrence Stroll hired Sebastian Vettel alongside his son Lance. This came ahead of the Silverstone outfit’s transition to Aston Martin.
But Red Bull picked up Perez, who had long been one of the top-performing drivers in F1’s midfield, to replace an underperforming Alex Albon. He scored his first victory for the team at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix but finished more than 200 points adrift of world champion Max Verstappen.
After winning at Monaco in 2022, he earned a two-year extension to his deal, and he put together arguably his strongest campaign for Christian Horner’s squad to date. With another victory in Singapore, he finished just three points adrift of Charles Leclerc, who had initially looked to be in a title battle with Verstappen.
Perez briefly threatened to mount a challenge himself last season with two wins in the first four races, but by the end of the year he was fighting for his future. He finished the campaign with as many Q1 and Q2 exits as he did podiums (nine), while Verstappen produced the most dominant year in F1 history.
2024 has been more of the same thus far – solid performances mixed with alarming off-weekends. But Red Bull have still seen enough to keep him on board.
Damon Hill says Sergio Perez is leaving Red Bull ‘one-legged’
Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, 1996 world champion Damon Hill flagged up the problem Red Bull have with Perez. He fears he’s leaving them hamstrung in the championship.
In the past, a three-tenth deficit to Verstappen would likely have been enough for second place. But now both Ferrari and McLaren have bolted significant upgrades onto their car.
That means that multiple drivers can split the two Red Bulls. And it leaves Verstappen strategically vulnerable, while also endangering the team in the constructors’.
Indeed, Ferrari have closed to within 24 points after Leclerc won the Monaco Grand Prix. Perez is down to fifth in the drivers, 62 behind his teammate.
“Don’t forget they [Ferrari and McLaren] have both got two drivers who can attack,” Hill said. “I’m not sure you can say that of Checo.
“[They’re] a little bit one-legged at the moment, Red Bull, if they want to defend. It’s no good being three-tenths away from Verstappen anymore, because so many cars can jump in that gap. The gaps have become smaller and smaller.”
Perez makes ‘vicious’ admission about partnering Max Verstappen
Hill’s remarks echo what Lando Norris said ahead of the race in Monaco. He claimed McLaren and Ferrari had a key advantage over Red Bull because both of their drivers were delivering at an elite level virtually every weekend.
Horner wasn’t overly pleased with Norris’ comments, but Perez did little to disprove them in the principality. After qualifying a woeful 16th, he crashed out of the race within a couple of corners following an incident with the two Haas cars.
Red Bull will still be confident of winning both championships. Indeed, if Verstappen wins a race (which will still probably happen more often than not) and Perez finishes within the top five, they will still out-score their rivals at any given weekend.
If the Mexican wants to be on the podium regularly (his current tally stands at 39), then he needs to close up. But he says it’s easy to fall into a ‘vicious cycle’ when you’re competing with the Dutchman, one where you chase the set-up of the car so desperately that you end up losing performance.
The post ‘It’s no good’: Damon Hill believes 39-podium F1 driver is leaving his team ‘one-legged’ with his performances appeared first on F1 Oversteer.