Perez

He is clearly in synch with the car now. Horner admits as much. Horner also said there is no #1. The driver in the lead will get the best strategy. Lets see how Jos feels about that lol

 

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12631572/red-bull-team-principal-christian-horner-dismisses-criticism-from-max-verstappens-father-over-sergio-perezs-status

However, speaking to Sky Sports F1 between first and second practice at the Azerbaijan GP on Friday, Horner stood by the team's decision and insisted that Perez, who has just signed a two-year contract extension, is on an equal footing with Verstappen.

"Dads and fathers are never totally objective," Horner said.

Horner insists that if Perez out-qualifies his team-mate - as he did in Monaco - he will get the first call on strategy during the race.

"The No 1 driver is the driver that's ahead, it's as simple as that," Horner said. "That's why Checo got the call on the pit stop, Max wouldn't even have had track position for example on that lap.

"But, our fight isn't between the two drivers, we've got a very competitive Ferrari with two fast drivers in it.

"Collectively as a team, we've got to take the fight and take the challenge to Ferrari, who are looking very quick this year."

Perez: Nothing in my contract says I need to finish second

 

Sergio Perez is the only individual I like in the whole Red Bull outfit. I hope he stands his ground and obtains some success.

 

I wish Sainz was as hooked up with the Ferrari as Perez with the Bull.

 

Looks like Perez is out at Red Bull.

 

Source?

 

Just google. Several news agencies are reporting it.

 

My sources don't mention anything regarding Perez out of RedBull.

Could be journo's trying to "sell a story."

I'll keep an eye out IF something comes up.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/motorsports/f1-rumor-red-bull-to-announce-sergio-perez-retirement-imminently/ar-AA1rfjfJ?ocid=BingNewsSerp

 

As of this second, it’s all speculation and rumor.

 

That 'story' has been bubbly all week but no confirmation. I think what the story might be is the 'test' for Lawson to do as well as he did earlier and move up next year to MaxBull and send Perez back to CarboCash unless new rookie sensation is hired- Bortoleto I think it is. Nothing else today I see but it would not surprise me if Perez is absolutely replaced at the end of Yas after the rookie event, if Lawson does well starting in Austin.

 

RB lost the the WCC because of Perez. Hence the sacking.

Time to reconsider the Mexican GP: Without Perez it won't be as crowded going forward.

 

Formel 1: Wildes Gerücht um Red Bull! Es wäre eine große Sensation | Sport | BILD.de

Apparently coming from Joe Saward.

 

That's a bit simplistic, IMO.

Verstappen is now unable to win, so it must be the car, IMO.

 

Perez is the worst driver of the 4 top teams. He didn't bring in enough points. While nobody expects him to be as fast as Max, he should have done better (like in previous years).

 

Bottas far better #2 than Perez. Far better.

 

Joe Saward Blog on all this Perez issues of leaving potentially: https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2024/09/26/green-notebook-from-somerset/

Green Notebook from Somerset
Posted on September 26, 2024 by Joe Saward

--The other story was Daniel Ricciardo. At the time of writing, his F1 career is still not officially over. But it will be in the next week or so. Daniel effectively said it with his late-race fastest lap. He’s out and Liam Lawson is in. This makes sense. As much as we all love Daniel, he has not delivered what he needed to deliver. He was taken on last year to perform so well with VCARB (at at time AlphaTauri) that it would put pressure on Sergio Perez to up his game. It hasn’t worked. Perez has been – at best – lacklustre this year. Red Bull is in the process of losing the Constructors’ Championship because of Checo’s poor performances and while his fans try to blame Red Bull for not giving him the right car, the fact that he needs a right car is condemnation enough. When he gets a good opportunity, as he did in Baku, he still managed to blow it with an ill-considered move that ended up with him and Carlos Sainz both in the wall. I know some will get upset at the suggestion that Perez is not the greatest ever star in the F1 galaxy, but that’s life. The numbers are all that matter. I absolutely do not understand the Red Bull logic of keeping him and losing the Constructors’ Championship as a result, but that is the choice they have made. Perhaps the sponsorship that follows him around really is worth more than the prize money lost, but this sort of thing damages team morale.

One interesting rumour in Singapore was that Perez and Red Bull have worked out a plan that will see him announce his retirement in Mexico, giving him a more gentle exit than being fired and will be less painful for Red Bull sales in the Americas. This would give Red Bull the chance to shop around for a new driver in 2025. Despite its expensive young driver programmes, Red Bull does not have someone ready to step up alongside Max Verstappen. Perhaps it will have if Lawson really shines (a la Colapinto) but there are already signs that Red Bull is out there shopping for the future. Christian Horner was talking the other day about George Russell, as he does not have a contract after the end of next year.--

 

Possibly, but Perez isn't the single reason why Red Bull is loosing the WCC.

The car is failing, and even Verstappen is loosing grip on the WDC everyone thought was his only 6 months ago.

Red Bull loss of form is far deeper than Perez not performing: they are loosing valuable staff all the time !!!

It's possible that Horner is steering the team in the wrong direction; insiders can see it, and decide to leave.

 

whatever became of the assymmetric braking on max’s car? that hurt perez’s reputation as a driver.

 

The car is failing and going backwards now, but with a performing second driver RB would have probably clinched enough points in the first part of the season (and would also lose less points in the second half) to still win the championship this year.

 

Let's see: Bahrain Perez 2nd, Saudi Perez 2nd, Melbourne Perez 5th, Suzuka Perez 2nd, China Perez 3rd, Miami Perez 4th, not bad for a start, don't you think ?
It's only later, from Imola 8th, Monaco DNF, Montreal DNF, Barcelona 8th, Austria 7th, Silversone 17th, Hungary 7th, etc ... that Perez form went down, but at the same time Verstappen started to struggle big time (8 GPs without a win !!!!).
So, Perez wasn't the only reason why Red Bull regressed; it was plainly the car.

 

Newey left, car slowed.

 

Yet Max last year won nearly all and Perez suffered at exactly the same time in last season. No matter the car aspect, he is not nearly as good a #2 as Bottas was.

 

I generally agree with you, but beware of suppositions.
We know how Bottas was at Mercedes, not how he would have done at Red Bull alongside Max, don't we ?
But before throwing the book at Perez, let's not forget he was runner-up in the WDC in 2023, and 3rd the year before, so he wasn't THAT bad.