Perez 'Completely Collapsed' And Hasn't Delivered What Red Bull 'Expected' Says Marko
F1Monday, 29 July 2024 at 18:00
Red Bull's Helmut Marko suggested Sergio Perez hasn't delivered the result the team expected from him in the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix.
Red Bull's Constructors' Championship title is endangered. With Max Verstappen starting from P11, the team also relied on Sergio Perez to score big in Belgium, as he started from the front row.
However, the Mexican driver was overtaken by Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap. He then couldn't quite match the pace of any of the drivers around him and fell further and further down the order.
Ultimately, he crossed the finish line in P8 (but later moved up into P7 thanks to George Russell's disqualification), 33,969 seconds behind his teammate in P4 and 43,195 seconds behind the race winner.
Speaking to Sky Sports Germany after the race, Red Bull's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko suggeted the 34-year-old driver fell apart in the final stint.
"Sergio had the opportunity to take a good result from second place. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case."
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"Especially in the last stint, he completely collapsed, where he set 1m48s lap times. What looked so positive in qualifying, unfortunately, didn't materialize in the race."
The Belgian Grand Prix was the final race before the summer break, and according to previous statements by Red Bull bosses, Checo's future within Red Bull is about to be discussed during the break. Marko continued:
"For us, the situation is such that we will also go through the overall situation for 2025. We have a number of drivers and we have a concept."
Perez hasn't finished better than seventh in the last eight races, no matter the starting position, and that will be something that the Austrian team has to factor in. The 81-year-old certainly wasn't satisfied with the Mexican's performance in Belgium, as he added:
"But of course, every result is [important] for Sergio, and eighth [seventh] place from second on the grid is certainly not what we expected."
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