The Sergio Perez ‘mystery’ with ‘main problem’ at Red Bull revealed

Helmut Marko has identified Sergio Perez’s lack of points as Red Bull’s “main problem” over the last few races of F1 2024, with the Mexican producing “no consistently good performance.”

After an encouraging start to the season, in which he contributed to three Red Bull one-two finishes in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Japan, Perez has found himself come under growing pressure after a desperate run of form.

Helmut Marko frustrated by Sergio Perez’s F1 2024 unpredictability

The 34-year-old has finished no higher than seventh since the Miami Grand Prix in early May, with Perez’s lack of contribution leaving Red Bull under threat from McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship.

Perez’s season slumped to a new low at last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, where he started 16th after crashing out of the first segment of qualifying.

He recovered to seventh on race day, but a one-two finish for Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris saw McLaren cut Red Bull’s lead in the standings to 51 points with 11 races of F1 2024 remaining.

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Perez could be replaced by Red Bull during the summer break, with a clause in the Mexican’s new contract – signed as recently as last month – believed to contain a clause allowing the team to drop him if he is in excess of 100 points behind Verstappen.

The deficit currently stands at 141 points ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, the final race before the August shutdown.

Writing in his post-race Speedweek column, Marko admitted to being frustrated by Perez’s “stupid mistake in qualifying” after he had measured up well against Verstappen in Friday practice in Budapest.

And he claimed that retaining the Constructors’ title could be “difficult” for Red Bull with both of McLaren’s drivers scoring consistently.

He said: “A typical Perez GP weekend, I would say: unpredictable.

“Very good on Friday, only just behind Verstappen and with the best long runs of all the drivers, then unfortunately a stupid mistake in qualifying, which resulted in 16th place on the grid, followed by a very strong race up to seventh place.

“It’s just this up and down with him. Nobody knows when he’s going to shine or when he’s going to make a mistake. There’s just no consistently good performance.

“Max’s lead in the drivers’ championship is still 76 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, McLaren has closed the gap to 51 points.

“Verstappen’s lead [over Norris is almost the equivalent to] three race wins, which is sufficient, if not reassuring. We have to perform consistently and be able to win again under our own steam.

“Defending the drivers‘ title will certainly be less difficult than defending the Constructors’ trophy, because McLaren continues to score points with both drivers up front.

“That’s our main problem, that we’ve scored far too few points with Checo Perez in the last few races.”

Marko’s comments come after Ralf Schumacher, the former Williams and Toyota driver, urged Red Bull to put Perez “out of his misery.”

He told Sky Germany : “How many times do I have to say it? I don’t know how long Red Bull is willing to watch and subject itself to this.

“I don’t think there’s any point anymore. And [Perez] knows that himself.

“The damage, we don’t even need to talk about it.

“Red Bull has so many drivers. It has to stop. He really should be put out of his misery. I’m sorry. It’s a catastrophe for him too.”

PlanetF1.com understands that Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson is the leading candidate to become Verstappen’s team-mate for the rest of the season if the team opt to replace Perez.

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