'Keep Max Happy' Theory Revealed As Hill Offers Red Bull Advice On Situation With Perez

Sunday, 16 June 2024 at 10:57

F1 presenter Naomi Schiff and Damon Hill discussed Red Bull's situation with Sergio Perez on the latest episode of the Sky F1 podcast.

Sergio Perez had one of the worst seasons in his career in 2023 when his performance suddenly dipped after the first five opening race weekends of the season.

He has had a very challenging time recovering from that, and in 2024, he started a much better start. However, In the last three races, there has been a similar dip again.

The Mexican driver collected only four points in the last three Grand Prix races. In comparison, his teammate Max Verstappen amassed 58.

Following the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix, which the 34-year-old didn't finish due to a personal mistake, Naomi Schiff and Damon Hill discussed what Red Bull could do to help Checo. The 1996 Champion said:

"Decision-making, maybe, is part of it. Making sure he gets a clear lap in qualifying. Making sure is on the right tires at the right time."

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"Everyone rooting for Checo, making sure he's able to give the best of what he's got. Because he hasn't been able to do that."

"For whatever reason. It has been bad decision-making and bad timing. It can't all be bad luck. You can be unlucky a couple of times but not all of the time…"

Another aspect that isn't helping both Red Bull and Perez is the timing of his performance dip in relation to the announcement of his contract extension.

Of course, Red Bull would have made this decision earlier than it was announced, but the announcement came between two race weekends during which the Mexican driver scored 0 points.

This leads many fans to ask the question. Why did Red Bull prolong Checo's contract when they could have given a chance to someone like Carlos Sainz? Schiff has her own theory, which she revealed:

"I was surprised that there was a two-year deal. Although it has come out since that, it's a 1+1, so let's see how that develops."

"I continue my theory that they are trying to keep Max happy. There are still whispers that there is potential Max would go to Mercedes."

"If they signed a driver to the team that Max wasn't happy with - Carlos Sainz, for example, then that could've been the decision to push him further from the team."