Change at Red Bull with Sergio Perez set for new race engineer at Dutch GP

Sergio Perez will have a new race engineer working with him at this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, with Hugh Bird temporarily stepping aside on paternity leave.

With Sergio Perez’s immediate future at Red Bull secured as the team has kept the faith with him alongside Max Verstappen to start the second half of 2024, the Mexican driver will be working with a new race engineer for the upcoming races.

Red Bull’s Hugh Bird to take paternity leave absence

Perez’s long-time F1 race engineer, Hugh Bird, is set to take a leave of absence from attending Grands Prix, as he heads off on paternity leave after this weekend’s race at Zandvoort.

Bird will be in place on the ground at the Dutch Grand Prix to oversee the work of Perez’s new crew as Richard Wood, a performance engineer who has been with the Milton Keynes-based squad for 11 years, steps up to work alongside the Mexican driver.

Richard Cooke, a simulator performance engineer with the team, will move into the performance engineer role as a result – Cooke worked on Verstappen’s side of the garage during the F1 2023 season.

While Wood and Cooke will have the benefit of Bird’s expertise for Zandvoort, they will be in charge of the ship for, at least, the following three races – up to, and including, the Singapore Grand Prix.

The changes of personnel on Perez’s side of the garage are being made due to Bird taking paternity leave, and not specifically for the purpose of making changes as Red Bull seeks ways to help their beleaguered driver refind the form he had earlier this season as the battle with McLaren heats up in the Constructors’ Championship.

The Mexican driver’s form fell away through the second quarter of the F1 2024 campaign, leaving Max Verstappen to score the vast majority of the team’s points.

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While speculation swirled that Red Bull could perform a mid-season swap to bring in either Daniel Ricciardo or Liam Lawson, a move that seemed highly likely after difficult race weekends for Perez in Hungary and Belgium, team boss Christian Horner has placed his faith in Perez to rediscover the form he started off this season with and bounce back.

Perez is a known performer at several upcoming race weekend venues, such as Azerbaijan and Singapore, with the 2023 championship runner-up being given the security of at least the next handful of races to turn things around.

As part of the bid to help Perez’s comfort, Red Bull is understood to be reverting him to an early-season specification on his RB20 – rolling back on the mid-season upgrades that have seen him become increasingly ill-at-ease behind the wheel.

Perez could be rolled back to the Chinese Grand Prix specification, where he finished in third place in what is his most recent podium finish.

Speaking over the summer break shutdown, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko spoke about the decision made by Horner to keep Perez in his seat after it appeared highly likely a change would be made.

“Sergio Perez will also be in the Red Bull Racing car after the summer break because we now have races on the tracks where he was good last year and we are relying on stability,” Marko told Speedweek .

“Perez doesn’t have to become faster, but more consistent. And given the alternatives, he is still our best solution.”

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