Verstappen's Strong Influence On `Red Bull's Second Seat Choice Revealed By Marko
F1Saturday, 13 July 2024 at 18:00
Helmut Marko discussed the influence that Max Verstappen and his father had on Red Bull's choice of their second driver.
One of Red Bull's latest moves, which has been highly scrutinized, was extending Sergio Perez's contract beyond the 2024 season—for 2025 and possibly 2026 as well (1+1 year deal).
Ever since the Austrian team extended the 34-year-old's contract, his performances have significantly dipped. Despite still having one of the fastest cars on the grid, Perez has not been able to score nearly as many points as Verstappen (10 vs 86 in the last five Grand Prix races).
This dip in performance is something that Red Bull can't afford if they want to win the Championship, and it hasn't happened for the first time.
So why did the team from Milton Keynes rush their decision to extend the Mexican's contract before the summer break? Red Bull's motorsport advisor, Helmut Marko, discussed the reasons for signing Perez on Viaplay. As reported by f1technical.net, he said:
"He is Max (Verstappen) 's teammate, and has managed to stay upright for a few years now. We wanted stability and they work well together. And I have already said that the Verstappens are not easy."
Red Bull's team principal, Christian Horner, already mentioned his team was satisfied with Perez's performance back then and wanted continuity. However, he hasn't talked about the triple World Champions's influence on this decision. Marko continued;
They (Max and Jos) wouldn’t have agreed with every teammate. Max wants a nice environment in which he can work.
"He and Perez are equal on the technical side. Sergio doesn't dream of the title anymore. And it doesn't matter who sits next to Max, they will all be beaten anyway."
Perez and Verstappen have been the winning combo for Red Bull during the last couple of seasons, but as other teams started catching up, the Mexican driver started losing ground.
He is currently in the sixth in the Drivers's Championship, and Marko admitted that the Austrian team will reconsider their options during the summer break.
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