Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has given a further indication they are preparing to part ways with Sergio Perez.
The team announced it had extended Perez’s contract by two years in June, after the Monaco Grand Prix. He finished the opening six rounds inside the top five, but his form nose-dived after then.Perez has scored just nine points over the last seven rounds. Last weekend Red Bull fell out of contention for the constructors’ championship, which they have won for the last two years in a row.
Horner said he hoped to inspire confidence in Perez by extending his contract early in the year, but admitted it hadn’t worked.
“Obviously, at the time, Sergio was performing extremely well,” he said. “I think he had four podiums in the first five races.
“In order to settle his mind and extend that run of form for the rest of the season, we elected to go early, which obviously didn’t work. So that’s just life sometimes.”
Speculation over Red Bull’s driver plans for next year grew after it confirmed Yuki Tsunoda will test for them after the season finale. Horner confirmed the team will discuss Perez’s future at the team after this weekend’s race.
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“The test with Yuki has been planned for some time, it’s been on the cards for, I think three months or something like that,” he said. “So it’s something that’s been scheduled.
“Obviously Checo remains our driver, contracted to the team. Obviously this season hasn’t gone to anyone’s plan, particularly with Checo’s performance since Monaco, it’s been very, very tough for him.
“So inevitably, once we get this race out of the way, we’ll sit down and discuss the future.”
Horner admitted Perez’s performances have been “painful” for the driver at times this year, but said “you have to look beyond this year for the contribution that he’s made to our team.”
“He’s been a great team player, he’s a great person, he’s extremely popular within the team,” said Horner. “He’s worked very hard over the four years that he’s been with us. He’s played a vital role in the constructors championships that we’ve won, the five grand prix victories that he had in our car. It’s been the most successful pairing that we’ve ever had, finishing first and second in the drivers championship last year.
“So I think nobody more is frustrated with the results than Checo from his own high standards. That’s obviously been painful for him, for the team. We’ve worked tremendously hard to try and support him and will continue to do so all the way up until the chequered flag on on Sunday, where hopefully he can get a good result at the final race of the year.”
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Edvaldo
6th December 2024, 14:05
So, now, after giving him the extension, he obviously wants to get rid of Perez, let’s see how they handle that.
Perez doesn’t seem too open to leaving the team as it means he’ll be out of F1.
SPArtacus
6th December 2024, 14:48
What I want to know is what did the performance clause Marko insisted they had contain. And if, scoring less points than Ocon over the last half-season isn’t enough for a clean break, what the hell is the point?
-9 points over 7 rounds (that includes sprints!)
-RBR’s 100+ points behind in the WCC despite Max being the better part of 100 points ahead of Norris
Stunning.
debaser91
6th December 2024, 19:13
After Miami (round 6) he had 103 points. In the last 17 rounds he’s scored 49 points. Max has scored 293 in the same period. He was on course for a good result in Baku before the crash with Sainz but he has been truly rubbish for 3/4 of the season. In fact, this is probably the worst season anyone has ever had in a competitive car.
SPArtacus
7th December 2024, 3:03
I agree completely. Easily the worst performance ever in a title winning car.
debaser91
7th December 2024, 8:47
This or any of Schumacher’s teammates from 1994.
anon
7th December 2024, 10:18
debaser91, there have been worse performances, with David Walker in 1972 generally considered to take that title.
In 1972, Fittipaldi won the WDC and Lotus won the WCC, but David Walker – who was Fittipaldi’s team mate – failed to score a single point that year, with a single 9th place being his best result. Now, there were some mitigating circumstances – he did have some bad luck with reliability – and some was down to Lotus favouring Fittipaldi, but part of it was also down to Walker’s own failings as a driver.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th December 2024, 20:03
Very good point, I don’t understand how a performance clause can be set so low. Marko isn’t known to be a honest person, perhaps he lied and they got caught out with a terrible driver and no such clause?
SPArtacus
7th December 2024, 3:05
They had to have had some sort of performance clause given his history and how he was already struggling when they did the deal. I’m guessing that it will save them $, but not nearly as much as one would expect given how desperate they are to get him to retire rather than be forced to fire him.
Alonslow
6th December 2024, 14:06
It’s over for Checo.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
6th December 2024, 14:11
<blockquote“He’s been a great team player, he’s a great person, he’s extremely popular within the team,” said Horner. “He’s worked very hard over the four years that he’s been with us. He’s played a vital role…….
I do wonder when people slip into past tense, they’re actually aware. Christian will have rehearsed this in his mind at least before talking to the media, and of course these actions did all happen in the past, and so do not necessarily mean ‘goodbye’. But I wonder if he does it on purpose………
SPAractus
7th December 2024, 4:28
If it’s not intentional, which wouldn’t surprise me at all, it definitely reflects that he already sees him as a former Red Bull driver.
SteveP
7th December 2024, 9:30
Bear in mind that Horner “has frequent resort to statements lacking in verisimilitude”* but he’s rather bad at it – ref. His statements on the cost-cap (or excess catering budget as we all know it)
*that’s a UK Parliament style phrase, that won’t hit the auto-moderate
David (@nvherman)
7th December 2024, 10:49
@bernasaurus
Not all of those sentences: he’s means “he is”, as well as “he has”, so the context determines which it is.
Carsten Nielsen (@carstenb)
6th December 2024, 14:16
I cannot understand, even with the money Checo brings to the table, that he is still driving the car, given the time other drivers got before being booted out.
He has not only underperformed,he has – spectacularly – performed below what anyone could expect from a Formula 1, let alone, RedBull driver.
I my view very few current F1 drivers would have performed worse than Checo from Monaco forward.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th December 2024, 14:24
Absolutely, if you check the driver rankings I believe perez is around the bottom, even worse than sargeant this year!
Dane
7th December 2024, 1:15
What’s baffling to me is how suddenly it went wrong. He was P2 in last year’s championship and up until Monaco was doing a respectable job. How does one suddenly lose the plot like that?
kuvemar
7th December 2024, 9:56
Honestly, if you look at the last few incidents – napping at the pit lane start, going off track on a warm-up lap, spinning behind the safety car – I’m not sure if everything is alright with Checo in terms of his health. I hope I’m wrong though.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
6th December 2024, 14:18
I believe that if Red Bull still had Adrian Newey and their car was still dominant, then Checo would probably be safe due to the cash he creates for the team.
Now however, they are potentially looking at being overwhelmed next season by at least three other teams.
Checo can barely qualify ahead of the midfield as it is and despite having a top class car he often fails to make up places in the race.
I don’t see how Red Bull dare to keep him.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th December 2024, 14:26
He clearly got worse during his red bull stint though, in 2021 he was much more competitive, and the car was relatively similar to today in the pecking order.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th December 2024, 14:27
I’m not disagreeing he shouldn’t be in the red bull, I’m just saying that some people say it’s completely reliant on the car, but he, himself, is driving significantly worse than he was few years ago.
Johns
6th December 2024, 15:04
Maybe i am dumb about this, but if they put perez in the simulator and have him drive like max did in the previous race, wouldnt he eventually learn how to drive like Max?
SteveR (@stever)
6th December 2024, 15:24
Except that it’s only possible to generate 1 g of load, so when exposed to 5 g’s of lateral loading on track it’s a totally different thing. The simulator is great for checking things like camber changes and damper rates, etc., but it is not a total simulation of driving at speed.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
6th December 2024, 17:26
I can watch Roger Federer play tennis, but it doesn’t mean I can play like him. Motorsports are a completely different type of sport, but it still relies on certain capabilities that some people have better than others – technique, timing, reactions, awareness, focus, composure etc. You can improve many of these things through practice, but it is hard to make dramatic changes to any of them this late in a career when you have your own tendencies baked in through decades of training. If it was as simple as you are suggesting, all drivers would be almost exactly equal from studying each others’ performances and data, but obviously that is a lot easier said than done.
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
6th December 2024, 21:48
@keithedin and this is why I think Danny Ric faltered—he just couldn’t adapt to the McLaren and in attempting to do so undid any natural instinctual speed he did have.
Greg
6th December 2024, 20:05
Changing driving styles is not imposible, but may be as easy as learning to ride a bike backwards
BLS (@brightlampshade)
6th December 2024, 14:38
Whilst Perez has never been top tier he has at least previously been a “good” F1 driver. Prior to going to RBR few would claim him to be undeserving of a mid table team drive.
Something has happened to him, maybe confidence or maybe that the Red Bull is setup/designed so much towards Max’s style that it’s borderline undrivable for anyone else.
Either way Perez needs to move on, it’s just not a good look any more
Tristan (@skipgamer)
6th December 2024, 16:36
There is an opportunity for F1 here, there needs to be more transparency as to ensuring the cars are manufactured equally.
What leg does Perez have to stand on? It’s all a black box and we look at drivers and judge them while knowing absolutely nothing as to the sporting integrity other than trusting the words of some.
Coventry Climax
6th December 2024, 19:22
Nothing personal, Tristan, but that’s by far the most ridiculous suggestion I’ve heard regarding F1 for a long, long time, some 50 years, possibly.
Please go watch spec car races, if that’s what you want, but don’t push F1 towards something it is not (yet), was not and should never be.
Tristan
6th December 2024, 21:19
I didn’t mean to imply equal across teams, but across drivers within the teams. We’ve seen Ricciardo and Perez now suffer massively compared to their team mates in a questionable fashion. The argument one does not just forget how to drive a car comes up again and again, with no true rebuttal.
Carsten Nielsen (@carstenb)
6th December 2024, 21:34
Why should it be assumed that cars should be equal within the same team? Teams (can/do) have reasons not to have equal cars, i.e. economy, driving style).
I also find it unlikely that a team, on purpose, would disadvantage one driver vs another, without other reason than the disadvantaged driver should finish behind the other.
Coventry Climax
7th December 2024, 1:06
OK, misinterpreted, maybe, but even that does not make much sense to me. Perez changed back to another spec chassis this season, reportedly by his own asking, as he felt it suited his style better.
From our outside position it’s hard to assess the difference, but I don’t think it’s made all that much differnce.
But anyway, if drivers within the same team feel they require different tools, or at least a different approach to the tools given them, it would be wise for the team to give them that, and I think that is exactly what happens.
Unless ofcourse you’ve proven, over the seasons, that it is rather pointless to invest in giving you what you want, because nothing special happens with it on raceday anyway.
SPArtacus
7th December 2024, 4:31
Tristan wants this because he refuses to believe Max is as good as he looks.
I’d love to see F1 drivers alternate weekends competing in spec cars and their normal constructors cars. So, we could get the best of both: who’s producing the best car and who’s driving the best.
anon
7th December 2024, 10:25
SPArtacus, I can see why that poster would raise the question though, because we know that Red Bull have given their drivers different specification cars (both this year and in previous years).
For example, we know from the documents that Red Bull submitted to the FIA that, in the Mexican, US and Brazilian GP’s, Perez was using an older specification floor to the one fitted to Verstappen’s car. We also know that it wasn’t because Perez wanted to use that older spec floor either – he wanted to use the new floor, as it was supposed to solve some of the aerodynamic problems that the RB20 has had, but the team rejected that request.
SPArtacus
7th December 2024, 12:23
And that’s nothing new. Every single team on the grid had their drivers running different floor specs at least once this season. And it’s less of a surprise when one has destroyed man floors.
Greg
6th December 2024, 20:08
F1 is a team’s championship, cars must be different by definition
Edvaldo
6th December 2024, 17:12
Some good drivers are just that, good drivers, and that becomes clear when they get to the top.
Fisichella when he finally got to a top seat was similar, won 2 races but was much slower and less competent than Alonso most of the time, racing cars he shouldn’t be racing, having all sorts of trouble he shouldn’t be having, and being more accident prone as well. Meanwhile, Alonso won 14 races and 2 WDCs.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th December 2024, 20:08
Yes, frentzen, more recently gasly and albon; perez actually started better at red bull than those drivers have, however he didn’t keep that same level, which, let’s not forget, was no better than bottas’, who might be out of f1!
Coventy Climax
7th December 2024, 1:15
Trulli, Salo, Kovaleinen, Fisichella, Frentzen, Herbert, the Brundell brothers, Magnussen, Ocon and so many, many more; all hailed as the next big thing which then however never materialised. Goes to show that some are indeed more talented than others, and that drivers do still matter, to whatever extent.
What I find hard to grasp is that it takes so many so long to realise Perez is just one of them, and certainly not even around the top, ranking this list.
S
7th December 2024, 4:48
?????
It’s truly impossible to say how ‘talented’ or ‘skilled’ a driver is when they all have unique conditions to contend with.
Verstappen and Hamilton – the two most successful of the current lot by some margin – would still be rated as ‘untalented’ if given machinery that is either; relatively inferior; is not suited to their personal style; or both.
Every driver seen as a ‘great’ has also suffered such conditions, and delivered equally mediocre results as anyone else on the grid at the time.
What I find a real joke is that some people actually believe that they can exclude all variables and rate racing drivers’ talent at all. The teams, even with all their masses of data, can’t do that either.
SteveP
7th December 2024, 9:40
That’s a quirky reference to the Brundle / Blundell pairing from the… …early 90s? (quick search – yep, just that)
Martin (@f1hornet)
6th December 2024, 14:42
Has there been an analysis of Perez’s performance vs Max and how that has changed in each season in terms of raw pace? I don’t know if he’s genuinely fallen back a long way from his team mate or the real issue is that the whole field is much closer, which means if you’re a few tenths slower that translates to many more places lost in qualifying and the race these days.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
6th December 2024, 15:06
I think this is very important. I’m going to speculate that this is about as close as F1 has ever been, or at least in the ball park. ‘Back in the day’, Mansell could blitz a pole lap more than a second quicker than anyone else, and that Patrese was nowhere near didn’t matter because he was 2nd or 3rd. Berger was tenths or seconds slower than Senna, but still Sunday when they lined up, he was just a few metres behind when the lights went out.
Checo is not as fast as Max, like plenty of dominant drivers teammates weren’t. But 3 or 4 tenths slower means a Q1 exit for Checo, not 4th on the grid.
anon
6th December 2024, 16:57
@bernasaurus it would depend on a few factors, such as what you class as representative lap times – however, the general consensus does seem to be that the gap between Verstappen and Perez has been increasing, being closer to around 0.3s in the earlier races of the season and growing to around 0.4s by the middle.
By the time you get to races like the US GP or Singapore, the gap had increased again to around 0.45s. If you then look at the most recent qualifying sessions in dry conditions, then the gap has increased substantially – in Mexico, Perez was 0.803s behind Verstappen in Q1 (where he was knocked out in that session), 0.856s behind Verstappen in Q1 in Las Vegas and 0.905s behind Verstappen in Q3 in Qatar.
Incidentally, if Perez had been averaging 0.3s off Verstappen in those three races, he’d have been 4th on the grid in Qatar, 10th in Las Vegas and 6th in Mexico – he’d have been pretty comfortably through into Q3 in those cases with that performance, and not actually that far behind Verstappen in Mexico or Qatar.
Overall, it looks as if Perez’s best performances, at least in qualifying trim, came in the races before his contract was renewed. His relative competitiveness in qualifying trim relative to Verstappen seemed to slowly get slightly worse after that, with the past few races seeing a rapid decline.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th December 2024, 20:10
Agree with anon, there’s no excuse for going out in q1 imo, and 4 tenths off verstappen don’t cause that; at worst, on occasion, they cause you to end up being eliminated in q2.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
6th December 2024, 16:40
Yes please, analysis would be great. That is an excellent idea.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
6th December 2024, 16:45
Not sure if this is what you are after?
https://www.formula1points.com/head-to-head/career/Max%20Verstappen/Sergio%20Perez
Coventry Climax
6th December 2024, 19:44
Haha, yes, that clarifies things quite enough, one should think.
Tristan
6th December 2024, 21:15
No it doesn’t really at all.
The head to head graphs are for their careers, not their time at Red Bull. And everyone should know that comparing points themselves mean nothing. Failures, unexpected circumstances, being designated #2 all make a massive difference.
And even if you do just look at the points in his time at Red Bull judging by those figures his performance has dropped by nearly half of what it was in 21, 22 and 23.
It’s easy to look at graphs at a glance and say “here, see” but to truly understand you need to take a wholistic view of any issue.
Coventy Climax
7th December 2024, 1:17
Correct, when looking at one, maybe two seasons. But so consistently, over so many years?
That’s just not credible.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
7th December 2024, 7:13
Sorry – I was only trying to help :/
MichaelN
6th December 2024, 19:18
The problem with this is that Pérez did just fine in the first couple of races of this year. Something changed that dropped him from podiums and front rows to out in Q1 and struggling to get int he points (or not spin out).
It’s fair to say Pérez is not at the level of some of those in similar paced teams. Fair enough. But there’s “Bottas in 2018” slow, and there’s whatever happened to Pérez this year. And again: it did not start like this. He put this same car – supposedly same car – in proper places.
The first race in Bahrain saw him start 5th, about three tenths off Verstappen. The second race in Saudi Arabia saw him start 3rd, again three tenths off Verstappen. Same in Australia. He was 2nd, less than a tenth off Verstappen in Japan. Again second in China, again three tenths off. Fourth on the grid in Miami, two tenths off.
Then we get to Imola. The big “upgrade”. What happened? Out in Q2. Monaco? Out in Q1. Canada? Out in Q1.
This isn’t normal.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th December 2024, 20:13
Yes, he can’t adapt to the upgraded car basically, seems clear from what you said, and this happened also in other seasons, it’s a pattern that he gets worse as the season goes on.
S
7th December 2024, 5:02
Which means that the team are developing the car in the wrong direction for one of their drivers, doesn’t it.
But only one of them….
RBA
6th December 2024, 19:22
Baku he is better than Verstappen
That’s it
Coventry Climax
6th December 2024, 19:37
Sounds like a decent idea, analysis, but, for instance, define what you consider as ‘raw pace’, please, and how you think to represent that as a measurable metric or number.
The analysis is probably already done and recorded, by the results of the races and qualifying sessions over the past couple of years:
Lacking the ability to
– adapt, ‘drive around issues’
– set up the car to get the most out of it,
– find an opportunity to overtake, (how many times have we seen Perez trying the exact same move, lap after lap, to eventually get frustrated and try something stupid?). So lacking race craft.
– find the blame within himself, alsways blames external factors. (His we/I use in sentences already makes this obvious.)
etc. etc.
So even if you do manage to get it all analysed and in numbers, what do you expect Perez -or Red Bull for that matter- do to actually with it? Do you really think Red Bull is that naïve that they haven’t tried this before?
I think it’s quite clear already and any further analysis is absolutely pointless – just like Perez’ tally.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th December 2024, 20:14
Oh, yes, let’s not forget that unlike horner says, perez’s contribution in 2023 did NOT matter: verstappen was perfectly capable of winning the constructor’s title by himself.
SteveP
7th December 2024, 9:55
Verstappen = 575
Mercedes = 409
Perez = 285
If you had two x Perez in the team, RBR still win easily. Note that there were 6 RBR 1-2 finishes, and with two Checo’s that wouldn’t change.
No question about it, that 2023 car was mega-dominant
Le Jimster (@lejimster82)
6th December 2024, 16:08
You could read between the lines with how Horner was talking just before Ricciardo was dropped and you can do the same once again now for Perez. Obviously Hadjar’s little slip of the tongue has let the cat out of the bag, it’s already been decided. We’re just going to have to wait for the official announcement probably next week.
I believe during free practice somebody said that Perez’s contract is for Red Bull but it doesn’t stipulate it has to be in an F1 car. I’m not sure if that’s just speculation as how they would know what’s in a private contract is anyones guess? Anyway, it could be left upto Checo what he wants to do in terms of staying on as an Ambassador for Red Bull or leaving completely.
Jere (@jerejj)
6th December 2024, 16:19
Horner indeed has been talking in a similar manner compared to pre-Ricciardo drop, although as I read Hadjar’s response on the matter, I didn’t get the idea that he would’ve indirectly revealed the outcome, but the matter is still pretty clear.
I wonder what other Red Bull car Checo could realistically drive, but that claim is definitely questionable, given it’s from someone who doesn’t belong to the group privy to his contract contents.
Triatan
6th December 2024, 16:15
The way I see it, they gave him a dud car (they want that aero advantage) now the pressure is on regarding that and they need to be able to prove that it’s his fault, not the cars.
“Perez will make the right decision” says you-know-what-I-think expecting Perez to kowtow for the good of the team and F1 as a whole to not bring it into disrepute.
I hope Perez puts up a fight and takes them to court of necessary. He has never been this slow compared to Max. But I bet he will either leave quietly or get the continuation next year and nothing will come of looking into how it’s possible.
Ludewig
6th December 2024, 18:28
You’re not making much sense. If they intentionally gave him a dud car to be slow, then why would they want to kick him out? Either they would still want him to be slow and then there is no reason to kick him out, or they want him to go faster, but then they could give him the same car.
That they want to kick him out is pretty strong evidence that they don’t see the car as the issue.
SPArtacus
7th December 2024, 4:37
It’s a product of his antipathy toward Max. If it was just “Max is a dirty driver” I’d understand, but it’s that + an insistence he’s really not that great. Just being favored. It’s just like the people who said Bottas was being sabotaged.
SteveP
7th December 2024, 10:00
Well, I’d say Max is being favoured, but that’s natural – why give the lesser driver the advantageous development?
Greatness? Not as much as his fans claim. A flawed diamond, perhaps?
SPArtacus
7th December 2024, 12:25
No driver is as great as their most fanatical fans claim. It’s in the name.
Leo B
6th December 2024, 16:26
All these years there was something about Perez’s contract with RBR that only insiders knew. It is intriguing what that was/is.
It is bound to surface in due course and will doubtless come as a surprise to many.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
6th December 2024, 17:08
The decision might PER’s but what kind of garbage is he going to have to endure to stay?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th December 2024, 20:18
Ahah, yes, was thinking the same in the other article, when horner said it’s his decision: slower car, being sent out too late to complete a lap in quali, all that kinds of things for max humiliation!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th December 2024, 20:18
Oh, car issues when in a good position!
SPArtacus
7th December 2024, 4:40
They keep saying that, but it’s clear it’s not. What they really mean is does he want to part on good terms and have a role with the team in the future as an ambassador or does he want to break acrimoniously and be forced out trying to stay and maximize his payout. Personally, I wouldn’t care about some ambassadorial role. I’d want the money, but I also wouldn’t be pretending I’m still up to snuff.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
6th December 2024, 18:01
He makes it sound like it’s Perez fault for not doing well, when in reality it’s HIS fault for renewing a guy with such a water tight contract when the whole world knew Perez wasn’t going to recover at all, and he was being just decent in the early part of the season. It made no sense with so many other drivers available.
It’s Horner’s fault, first and foremost.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th December 2024, 20:20
Yes, or whoever extended his contract; perez was coming from a couple meh races, which should’ve made the decision makers say “wait a sec, let’s see how he does the next few races, no rush to extend”.
SPArtacus
7th December 2024, 12:27
Max bears some responsibility too for making it clear he didn’t want a good driver in the other seat. RBR, understandably, really want to keep him. He knows that. So, his signaling is really important.
David BR (@david-br)
6th December 2024, 19:15
So that’s just life sometimes, maybe. So that’s Pérez always, definitely.
Red Bull are either the slowest learners in Formula 1 ever or there’s some other reason they persisted with Pérez beyond his terrible performance. It’s the latter. Does that mean he’s definitely gone? Nope. Probably? Maybe.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th December 2024, 20:26
Perhaps perez has more info on the horner saga early year, some sort of blackmail: “If you fire me, everything’s getting out!”
SteveP
7th December 2024, 10:05
Nah, there’s plenty more room under the RBR carpet to sweep another big dollop under there.
I don’t think they care, unless there’s video of Horner doing unspeakable things to a hamster or something.
SPArtacus
7th December 2024, 12:28
I really don’t want to see any videos of that hamster Ginger Spice and Horner.
Franky
7th December 2024, 2:26
It will be extremely hilarious to see the next rbr 2nd driver to be ousted before mid season just because the team focus is Verstapen (not blaming anyone for that) and they use the 2nd driver as a testbed. Without the economic backing they will be fired just like the good old times for rbr. The #1 rb20 is crap now that they lost Newey&Co no matter what Horner says. But the 2nd rb20 is just a joke, like a lemon just being used to try things out. Many here say that “what’s the case of not giving your second driver a decent car and team support” well here you have the answer when you use 80% of your team to support your star driver and the remaining 20% just to support the other 80% of the team: you ensure drivers championships even when your team’s senior technical group starts to fall apart. I can asure you that Perez’s sponsors are not very happy to see the rb20 crumbling but even less happy or plainly mad with rbr using him as a testbed and scapegoat at the same time. Otherwise it would be just fool not to fire him on the spot. Just sayin!
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
7th December 2024, 9:53
It’s not the first time this has happened to Red Bull. Back in 2012 they extended Webber’s contract after he’d won the British Grand Prix. After this race, Webber was 16 points ahead of Vettel. He ended up over 100 points behind in 6th place in the championship. His 2013 season wasn’t much better (he failed to win a single race ans only scored half of Vettel’s points). History repeats itself if we don’t learn from it.
SPArtacus
7th December 2024, 12:29
Webber wanted to retire IIRC.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
7th December 2024, 12:34
That only came after Multi 21. Webber was still going strong until mid-2012.