‘Not an absolute given’ - Doubts raised over Red Bull's show of faith in Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez’s seat at Red Bull may not be totally safe for the rest of the 2024 F1 season, it has been suggested.

That is the view of Sky Sports News reporter Craig Slater, who reckons Red Bull’s decision to keep faith with Perez may not be as clear cut as it appears amid recent mounting pressure and speculation that the Mexican could be replaced during the summer break with either Daniel Ricciardo or Liam Lawson.

Following a crunch meeting involving key figures including Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko on Monday, Horner is believed to have addressed staff at the team’s Milton Keynes factory informing them that Perez will continue as Max Verstappen’s teammate.

"I don't think it's an absolute given he does complete the season. I think Christian Horner would like him to," Slater said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

"I'm a big fan of Checo's, I think he's great, and I want him to finish the season strongly as well, but I don't necessarily think it's out of the question that, if things don't pick up in these races after the resumption, the talk will swirl around again if the title is in the balance."

Slater added: "It would have been a Helmut Marko decision this [in the past], it was a Christian Horner decision, and that might be significant,

"I think Marko is more of 'the tinkerman' - he likes to move people around quite ruthlessly. I think Horner takes a view there's upheaval in all of that, so they really gain so much?

"Ricciardo has not really been banging on the door hard. They don't for whatever reason want to promote Tsunoda, and Lawson is a bit of an unknown quantity. So it's not straightforward what to do.

"We have to remember a lot of good drivers have really struggled [next to Verstappen]. So he's not really exceptional in that sense, Checo.

"He has got about 35 per cent of the points that Max has. It's right to say if that persists with the scoring they've had, they won't win the Constructors' Championship.

“Senior figures in Red Bull have been saying to Horner: 'look at this, can't ignore the facts, it's your decision ultimately...' and so far he is keeping Checo in situ."

Ex-F1 team strategist Bernie Collins, who worked closely with Perez when he drove for Force India/Racing Point, said: "I'm surprised that if that was the decision they were going to come to, that it didn't even happen earlier if they were going to get there.

"He obviously had a very, very strong qualifying in Spa. But it was right on a knife edge, he nearly went out at the end of Q2, so it was close to being either P15 or the P2 he ended up. So it was really close, and that wasn't all down to Checo.

“In many ways they have to look at their championship and say: 'Who could we put in that seat that is guaranteed to do a better job for the remaining 10 races?'

"And I don't think, given everything that's going on, you know, a few races ago, we were talking about was Ricciardo safe if in that [RB] seat and we've gone through this cycle of all of it.

"So I don't think they can look at the two that they have in the junior team at the moment and say definitely they are going to do a better job. And that I think is what's been the key point of this decision."