‘It’s Extreme’ Says Rosberg About Difference Between Verstappen And Perez

Monday, 09 October 2023 at 22:00

Updated at Tuesday, 10 October 2023 at 22:44

Formula One World Champion Nico Rosberg and Red Bull Racing advisor Dr. Helmut Marko revisited "Sergio Perez’s future in Red Bull" topic after the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez has not been at his best yet during the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix weekend. After being lapped by his teammate Max Verstappen during the race, Perez only managed to finish P10, taking home a single point.

This performance adds to the negative streak of the number 11 driver that fuels fan and f1 expert debates about his future in Red Bull. The 2016 F1 World Drivers' Champion Nico Rosberg said:

"I think if an alternative were on the market now, he would be replaced. But he’s too far away right now. It’s extreme."

By the extreme gap, Rosberg might be referring to a 209-point lead of Verstappen over Perez in the Drivers’ Championship. However, as the German explains, there are not too many substitutes for Perez right now.

Read also

Perez 'Urgently Needs To Get Back Into Shape' According To Horner

"You can’t just put Liam Lawson in the Red Bull now, because who knows how that would go. That would be too high a risk. Even Daniel (Ricciardo) would be a certain risk because we haven’t seen much of him yet."

Dr. Helmut Marko also commented on the Perez situation for Sky Deutschland. Red Bull advisor, who closely works with team principal Christian Horner, says Perez has to "get out of this negative spiral."

"He has to get out of this negative spiral. There were fast laps in between, but it doesn’t help with all these penalties. The gap is simply too big at the moment because second place in the world championship is also at risk now."

Perez got lucky during the Qatar Grand Prix as his primary challenger for the second position in the Drivers’ Championship Lewis Hamilton did not finish the race, scoring zero points. On the other hand, Marko hints the team is prepared to find substitutes for the seat in AlphaTauri.

"In general, we want to implement the contractual situation, which lasts until 2024. And that’s entirely up to him now. But then we have three relatively good drivers in Alpha Tauri. Let’s see how this develops further. But we assume that Checo will find his old strength again."