Max Verstappen reveals ‘main concern’ at Red Bull bigger than Sergio Perez future

The rumored deadline is here: Sergio Perez’s future as a Red Bull Racing driver is in doubt after yet another challenging race in Belgium — but his teammate Max Verstappen believes that the bigger problem is elsewhere.

In fact, if you ask Max Verstappen, the issues doesn’t lie with Perez at all; instead, it’s all down to the car.

Max Verstappen: The RB20 “should be our main priority”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The 2024 Belgian Grand Prix was a challenging one for both of Red Bull’s drivers. Though Max Verstappen technically qualified on pole position, he had to start further down the field thanks to a 10-place grid penalty occasioned by power unit component changes.

Unfortunately for him and Red Bull, he was unable to crack the podium in the dominant fashion we’ve expected from Verstappen over the last few years.

Sergio Perez, meanwhile, started the race from the front row of the grid but struggled with battery problems, tyre life, and strategy. He crossed the line three places behind his teammate.

It’s not at all the race Perez would have hoped for.

The Mexican driver’s performance has dropped off dramatically since ‘Checo’ signed a contract extension that would see him remain a Red Bull driver into 2025, with an option for 2026 as well.

As the European portion of the F1 season progressed, the jubilant renewal celebration transformed into rumours that Perez would be axed before the end of the 2024 season if his performance failed to improve. PlanetF1.com understood there to be certain performance clauses in Perez’s contract that, if unfulfilled, could see him axed during F1’s summer break.

That break is upon us — but Perez has an unshakeable confidence that he’ll remain with the team, while his teammate Verstappen doesn’t feel it’s fair to blame him for the downturn.

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“Our main concern is the car,” Verstappen told assembled media, including PlanetF1.com, after the Belgian Grand Prix.

“That’s what we should focus on mainly because I think if you look at Checo’s weekend, it was very positive.

“Of course in the race, it just shows that we have difficulties still with the tyre life. I think that should be our main priority.”

Verstappen has defended Perez previously in the season, doubling down on his belief that the RB20 has let down both drivers through the course of the year.

“We were just not faster than the cars around us,” Verstappen admitted to media after the race, though he did admit that he believes the team maximised its performance in what was largely a “damage control” race.

He also defended against a question about whether or not the team should have opted to swap the teammates on the track, prior to pit stops.

“No, I don’t think it’s fair on him because he’s doing his own race as well.

“I think there, we did the right thing. I don’t think that would have mattered a lot in my race.”

What matters now is the course of Perez’s future — something we expect to learn more about during the summer shutdown.

Read next: How the Belgian Grand Prix definitely proved Red Bull’s RB20 is no longer the best car