Red Bull 'Should Have Parted Ways' With Perez 'Much Earlier' Says Danner

Sunday, 11 August 2024 at 10:33

Former F1 driver Christian Danner shared his opinion on Red Bull's decision to continue with Sergio Perez after the summer break.

Despite Sergio Perez being unable to put together a decent weekend in any of the last eight Grand Prix races, Red Bull decided they would not replace him after the summer break.

The main reason? The team aims for continuity. Plus, as Helmut Marko said, they believe the 34-year-old has what it takes in terms of speed; the only thing they want from him is for him to become more consistent.

Can the Mexican driver prove that Red Bull was right not to replace him in the second part of the 2024 season? We will have to wait to see.

However, many F1 pundits, like Christian Danner, have already voiced their opinions, saying the team from Milton Keynes made the wrong move. Danner told Motorsport Magazin:

“"Looking at his pure performance, they should have parted ways with him much earlier. I think there is still incredible unrest internally at Red Bull."”

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“"It's obviously the same with the drivers now. You don't really know where you stand. Is that good for the team? No!"”

To be fair to Checo, it must be pointed out that he really has shown in the past that he can be very fast with quite a few incredible performances.

The problem is that Red Bull needs to see performances like that from him in every single race if they want to win the championship. Having decided not to replace him, Danner believes Red Bull tipped the scales in McLaren's favor in the battle for the Constructors' title.

“"We'll see whether this is the right decision for Red Bull when the constructors' championship is decided. And that now looks much more likely for McLaren than for Red Bull."”

“"Sergio Perez has not only had a slump, spun, or had an accident once. There was something new in practically every race, and as a result, he was miles behind Max Verstappen."”

After the 14th round of the season in Belgium, Perez stands seventh in the Constructors' Championship, and he would have been eighth if George Russell had not lost 25 points due to disqualification.

The Mexican driver is 146 points behind his teammate (who is leading the Championship), 68 points behind Lando Norris in second place, and 46 points behind Oscar Piastri in third.

If he wants to help Red Bull win the Constructors' title, the Mexican must start closing the gap to the two McLaren drivers in P2 and P3. Danner added:

“"Formula 1 is clearly a performance-oriented sport, and if the driver - for whatever reason - doesn't deliver the performance, then he's just unlucky. Then it's 'goodbye,'”