Why Sergio Perez is at risk of losing his F1 seat mid-season

Red Bull says it desperately needs Sergio Perez in the fight at the front in F1 again - but that’s not happening, which could lead to drastic action.

Yet another race weekend has passed with Max Verstappen left solo against increasing opposition, as this time he duked it out at the British Grand Prix with two McLarens and two Mercedes.

And where was Perez? Two laps down in the race after a failed strategy gamble from a pitlane start, off the back of spinning into the gravel in damp conditions in Q1.

Perez is on a turgid run of form and you might think he’s lucky that he only recently signed a new Red Bull contract that technically ties him to the team until the end of 2026.

But in reality, he’s still vulnerable to Red Bull ruthlessly chopping him – and as his struggles have continued, the idea of doing that is being taken seriously.

00:00 Perez's turgid run
02:40 Why Red Bull must act
04:46 Lawson's Red Bull test
06:38 What about Ricciardo?
08:40 A strange claim

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#f1 #formula1 #formulaone #f12024 #grandprix #f1news #therace #redbull #maxverstappen #sergioperez #danielricciardo #carlossainz

[rs]

The fact that Albion and Gasly got thrown out of Redbull for much less shows how much money Perez is bringing into the team

[evanbland]

For the second half, promote Ricc to RB, Liam to VCARB. If Ricc doesn't do well you can let him go at end of season. Everyone will be okay with it because he got his shot, and then they can promote Yuki or Liam for next season based off of how they finish.

[pooyakhalili]

I don't understand why they want to replace Perez. In F1, constancy is key, and Perez is constantly crap

[superjonne]

seems weird that after Monaco there was talk about Ricciardo getting dropped and 4 races later there's talk about him getting promoted to Red Bull mid-season

[BobVerdoes]

I don't think RB cutting him would be comsidered "ruthless" at this point, he's had plenty of time.

[sharptojo]

Nico Hulkenberg has more points in his last two races compared to Checo’s last five. Embarrassing.

[jtok]

As of Silverstone, Hulkenberg in a Haas has scored more points in the last two races, than Perez has in the last six. Red Bull can't keep ducking the question.

[megamanxs]

RB have cut drivers loose for a lot less.

His only reason he's still in that seat is financial.

[andrewa]

That performance clause's font is getting bigger and bigger

[bigoldawg]

They scrap gastly and albon in about 5 races... but give this man a 2 year extension... 🤷

[JoeVer-dv]

At this rate Carlos Sainz will wait all season to sign

[julesselmes]

Thank you for not using terrible AI narration. Great delivery of relevant content and interesting insights and explanations. Subscribing!

[StriganTFS]

"Only Verstappen has job security"? What about Stroll? 😂

[LiamJM]

The funniest thing about the entire Checo seat dilemma is that the solution is fairly obvious but Red Bull refuse to do it. It's Tsunoda.

He's had Ricciardo's number for pretty much their tenure as teammates. Lawson came in and did well vs him, but Tsunoda had some appalling luck with red flags, a DNS and a Perez-enforced DNF. The only race Lawson finished ahead on track was at Suzuka, where AT ruined their chances of points by leaving Tsunoda out too long and in doing so Lawson jumped him but with no chance of points.

It's win/win for them. Perez already stinks. If Tsunoda didn't do well, they'd have an actual justifiable reason to let him go AM-Honda in 2026 and an opening for Lawson or Ricciardo. However, it Tsunoda does well, they would then at least have an option to keep on a driver entering his prime and also hold a good driver away from AM-Honda in the process. So they'd either get a competent number 2 or they'd get an easier, more justifiable pathway to put Lawson or Ricciardo in a binned Tsunoda's seat.

But they seem insistent on putting Ricciardo in despite the fact he's never going to get any better than he currently is, and he's far more likely to go backwards given his age, given he's not an Alonso or Hamilton level driver who can afford to go backwards a little as they're still miles clear of most of the grid. Ricciardo isn't.

[dylanelliott]

If Hulkenberg didn’t sign that contract with Sauber he would have been perfect for that second Red Bull seat.

[thatguy]

They don't know what they have with Lawson or Riccardo. RBR should put Riccardo in Checo's seat. Lawson takes his place at RB. Perez is out. Riccardo either makes it or he's truly washed. It's as much about next year as it is this year.

[PlasticBagForAHelmet]

Checo is pretty much just a pay driver right now. The amount of time he's been given, opposed to the relative inexperience of both Gasly and Albon in 19/20, is ludicrous.

[flamingburitto]

Hulk scored more points in 2 races than Perez has in 6.
Logan seargant out qualified Perez 3 times.

What is redbull doing? Seriously. They've fired drivers for much less in the past but they're holding to Perez? So that max is protected? MAX DOESN'T NEED PROTECTION. MAX NEEDS SUPPORT IN THE FRONT TO FIGHT!

[YoungDolan]

I love the fact that gasly did nowhere near as bad as checo in his rookie year. He still finished in the back end of the points most occasions and didn’t suffer anywhere near the amount of Q1 knockouts Perez has had yet he’s still there

[Mrcento]

The cold, hard truth is, Perez is now contributing so little to RBR, throwing virtually anyone in that 2nd seat isn't really any gamble any more. What's the worst that can happen?, The new guy comes in, is still miles off Max, can hardly get it out of Q3 and scores points at the same rate as a Haas?....as is now.

The neatest solution is Ricciardo. (who has kinda lucked out into contention), Him stepping into RBR opens the door at RB for Lawson, and if DR shows no step beyond Perez for the rest of the season and Lawson goes into RB and shows up better than Yuki (or DR did), then they've got the next man up ready to go, and to also be brutally honest with Ricciardo, if he ended up in the RBR and it didn't work out, that would likely be him in F1 anyway, He has nothing left to lose, He either does a better job then Perez at what is now a low bar, or retires at the top seat having got the shot he came back into F1 for.