Will Sergio Pérez still see the end of the season at Red Bull? Rumors of a premature end had recently arisen in the Formula 1 sphere. Motorsport consultant Helmut Marko has now given the speculation a clear rebuff.
For Sergio Pérez, the last few races of Formula 1 were anything but custom-made. Up until the Miami Grand Prix he was only 14 points behind world championship leader and teammate Max Verstappen, but the gap between the Red Bull driver and the two-time world champion increased to a whopping 53 points as a result of two disastrous qualifying sessions.
There were already rumors about Pérez. Above all, the well-known former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley saw the development of the Mexican with great concern, as he recently explained in the “Checkered Flag” podcast. “[…]Now some people question whether he even has the right to sit in the Red Bull. Does he even make it to the end of the season?” Priestley asked a question that has been discussed several times.
For Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko, however, the rumor is “all nonsense”, as he emphasized to “F1-Insider.com”.
“Sergio’s place was never in jeopardy and will not be in the future either. He is an important building block in achieving our goals for this year,” said the 80-year-old, before defining them even more precisely afterwards: ” We want to finish 1st and 2nd in the drivers’ championship and become Constructors’ World Champion as soon as possible.”
Marko himself had counted Pérez in the past few weeks and warned him to do better, but he doesn’t want his words to be misunderstood. There should never have been any talk of a (premature) end.
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“After his rather weak performances in Miami and Monaco, I just reminded Sergio that he should concentrate on his job, because he didn’t take advantage of the opportunities he had there,” said the RB consultant.
The 33-year-old has to focus more on himself “and not try desperately to hit Max. And he should be there when Max isn’t going well,” emphasized Marko, underlining the pecking order again for the Austrian racing team.
As the clear number two, Pérez still has to deliver, just to secure the constructors’ championship. “The probability of realizing this dream only increases if both cars are capable of winning.”
Red Bull currently leads this ranking with 287 points. Follower Mercedes only collected 152 points, Aston Martin 134.