Half the F1 2024 field ‘better’ than Sergio Perez as Red Bull told to take action

Red Bull should “take a risk” and drop Sergio Perez, with half of the drivers on the F1 2024 grid likely to “perform better” alongside Max Verstappen.

That is the belief of former F1 driver Marc Surer, who says Perez has “lost his self-confidence” having struggled to get to grips with the Red Bull RB20.

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Despite signing a new two-year contract as recently as June, Perez came close to being dropped by Red Bull during the recent summer break following a desperate run of form.

Having started the F1 2024 season with four podium finishes in five races, the Mexican driver has finished no higher than seventh since the Miami Grand Prix in early May, with a widely rumoured performance clause in Perez’s contract giving Red Bull the freedom to replace him following the Belgian GP last month.

Although he fell a massive 146 points behind Verstappen at Spa, Red Bull has opted to keep Perez in place entering the second half of the F1 2024 campaign, which begins with this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

Confirming Perez’s stay in an address to Red Bull staff, team principal Christian Horner commented that the team “look forward to seeing him perform at circuits where he has done well at the past” – a reference to Perez’s victories in Baku and Singapore in 2012/23 and 2022 respectively.

It remains to be seen whether Red Bull will revisit the situation as the final 10 races unfold if Perez is unable to recover his form, with the team currently holding a 42-point lead over McLaren in the Constructors’ standings.

Surer, who made 82 F1 starts for the likes of Arrows and Brabham between 1979 and 1986, has claimed that “half the field” would “probably perform better” than Perez.

And he has admitted that he would have replaced the 34-year-old over the August shutdown, with Perez unable to tame the RB20 like Verstappen.

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He told German publication Motorsport-Total : “Any driver can deliver the performance that Sergio Perez does. I would have done something about it.

“I’m just going to say that half the field in Formula 1 would probably perform better, so why not take a risk and put another driver in the car?

“If the car is easier to drive, yes, Perez is someone who can beat Max. He is someone who can handle an understeering car very well.

“Now the car obviously does both. It oversteers and understeers. It’s doing everything it’s not supposed to do. Max can handle it, but Perez can’t.

“What’s more, he has probably also lost his self-confidence, which is very important in racing.”

Rumours in the aftermath of Red Bull’s decision to retain Perez claimed F1 owners Liberty Media had intervened to persuade the team to keep him ahead of Perez’s home race in Mexico on October 27.

PlanetF1.com understands these claims to be wide of the mark.

Asked about the suggestions of Liberty involvement, Surer claimed it would be easier for Perez to find a seat for F1 2025 if he is dropped by Red Bull at the end of 2024, rather than losing his seat mid-season.

He said: “If they kick him out at the end of the year, he might be able to find a job with another team. It would be less bad for Mexico if he is kicked out at the end of the year.”

Reports from Germany last week claimed Perez could yet emerge as a contender to join Audi/Sauber for F1 2025 if he is discarded by Red Bull.

Perez made his F1 debut with the Swiss-based team in 2011, claiming a total of three podium finishes before being signed as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at McLaren for 2013.

However, current incumbent Valtteri Bottas recently dropped a major hint that he will be retained alongside new signing Nico Hulkenberg, posting an image to social media of his race number, 77, emblazoned on an Audi road car.

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