Red Bull insist they will keep faith with Sergio Perez despite poor form
Perez signed a new contract in June, to keep him at Red Bull until the end of 2026
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Sergio Perez will continue to drive for Red Bull for the remainder of the season, despite not achieving a podium finish since the fourth race of the season.
Team bosses met on Monday to discuss the issue with Red Bull considering making the change and replacing Perez with either Daniel Ricciardo or their reserve driver Liam Lawson, before the season resumes at the Dutch Grand Prix on 23-25 August.
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that team principal Christian Horner said: “Checo remains a Red Bull Racing driver, despite all the speculation of late. We look forward to seeing him perform on circuits where he has done well before.”
It has been a tough season for Perez, despite signing a two-year contract in June, and he finished seventh in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix after starting second on the grid.
The 34-year-old was described by Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko as “completely collapsing”.
“Sergio had the opportunity to take a good result from second place. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case,” Marko told Sky Germany.
“Especially in the last stint, he completely collapsed, where he set 1m48s lap times. What looked so positive in qualifying unfortunately didn’t materialise in the race.”
The Mexican has finished on the podium just four times this season and sits seventh in the driver standings, while his teammate Max Verstappen tops the leaderboard, having won seven of the 14 races so far.
Although he is also without a win in the last five races, his last victory coming in Barcelona, in June.
As a result of both drivers’ recent struggles Red Bull’s lead at the top of the constructors’ championship has been reduced to just 42 points despite Verstappen leading the the drivers’ championship by 78.
McLaren has closed the gap following Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finishing first and second respectively in Hungary.
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