Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor, has criticized Sergio Perez after his “total collapse” at the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.
Upcoming discussions are scheduled for Monday to evaluate Red Bull’s driver roster for 2025, putting Perez’s position at risk with the world champions.
The 34-year-old has struggled significantly, starting from second on the grid at Spa-Francorchamps and finishing eighth (later promoted to seventh after George Russell’s disqualification). He also faced a clear defeat against his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, who had a 10-place grid penalty and began the race in 11th.
Marko expressed to Sky Germany: “Sergio had a chance to secure a strong result from second place. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Particularly in the final stint, he completely fell apart, recording lap times of 1m48s.”
“What seemed so promising in qualifying regrettably did not translate to the race.”
When questioned about the upcoming meeting on Monday regarding their driver line-ups for Red Bull and sister team RB, Marko mentioned: “Our situation requires us to review the overall scenario for 2025. We have several drivers in mind and a concept to consider.”
“However, each result is crucial for Sergio, and coming in eighth after starting from second on the grid certainly isn’t what we anticipated.”
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Erik Junius
Perez hasn’t achieved a win since April 2023, which came at the Azerbaijan GP, and Red Bull had proposed a two-year contract extension earlier this season to help improve his performance on the track.
Red Bull believed this would alleviate the pressure on Perez, allowing him to perform better, but the results they anticipated have not come to fruition.
As a result, Daniel Ricciardo, Liam Lawson, or Yuki Tsunoda could potentially take his place if Red Bull decides to make changes to its driver roster, though it’s unclear if this would occur mid-season as Formula 1 teams transition into the summer break.
In the meantime, Perez attributed his disappointing performance to several factors including a lack of power on the straights, traffic, tire issues, strategy, and even car balance. He did manage a late pit stop to post a fastest lap on a new set of soft tires, which provided a bit of consolation.
Still, he remains confident that he will continue driving for Red Bull at the Dutch Grand Prix following the summer break and has stated he will refrain from further comments regarding his future.
“It was a very disappointing race,” Perez said. “It started positively, but I struggled significantly on the straights. I was uncertain about what was happening, and I had to conserve battery early on in the first few laps, which made me vulnerable. Once I got past that and charged up a bit, I found myself stuck.”
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
“However, during the second stint, switching to the medium tires while dealing with traffic proved to be extremely challenging. It was very tricky.”
“We also had a quite short stint, putting us out of sync. Our performance with the tires was below par; the balance was off as well, so we have plenty to analyze on our end.”
“Saturday was a good qualifying day with solid performance. Nevertheless, it doesn’t change anything moving forward. Our team has numerous issues to tackle, and we must concentrate our energy on that instead of engaging in speculation.”
“This is the final time I will address the topic of my future—I won’t be discussing it any further, and I won’t entertain any more questions regarding what lies ahead.”
Additional reporting by Markus Luettgens and Filip Cleeren
