Perez "not mentally stable enough" | "His days at Red Bull are numbered"

Perez has endured a difficult run of form in F1 2023, scoring just two podiums in the last six races, while teammate Max Verstappen has won the last seven consecutively. 

It has meant that Perez now sits 110 points behind his teammate in the standings.

While Perez did enjoy a strong recovery drive at the Hungaroring, he still finished well over 30 seconds off the lead as Red Bull failed to secure a 1-2 once again.

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The pressure has mounted on Perez following Daniel Ricciardo’s surprise return with AlphaTauri as Nyck de Vries’ replacement.

“The mood for Sergio Perez has recently been gloomy, Schumacher wrote in his recent column. 

“After numerous blunders in recent weeks, massive criticism has again poured in following his crash in the first free practice session in Hungary.

“The problem with Perez is consistency - he has too many fluctuations and is perhaps not mentally stable enough. He's simply too far away from Max and for me, his days at Red Bull are numbered.”

With other teams finding pace, Schumacher pointed out that Red Bull “can’t afford” to have an underperforming second driver.

“It's unfair of us to increase the pressure on him, but especially in the future, when other teams are getting closer, Red Bull can't afford one driver being so clearly slower than the other,” he added.

“The team is logically trying to make Perez believe that his job is not in jeopardy, but I don't think he will still be driving for Red Bull next year.”