It came as a shock to many that Sergio Pérez would keep his seat at Red Bull with 10 races remaining this season, with the Mexican driver having scored just 28 points in the past eight races.
The 34-year-old is no stranger to mid-season struggles, having endured long periods of poor form in every season he has raced with Red Bull.
But his slump this season has been the longest and worst of his Red Bull career and it has had a major impact on the team.
Perez’s problems and Max Verstappen’s failure to win every race have seen McLaren reduce Red Bull’s lead in the constructors’ championship to just 42 points.
For a moment, the Belgian Grand Prix looked like the moment Pérez would start to turn things around, securing the front row in qualifying, only to fall far short in seventh place in the race.
Verstappen started from 11th place at Spa-Francorchamps but recovered to finish in fourth place, extending his lead in the Drivers’ Championship.
Despite signing a 1+1 contract for 2025 and 2026 earlier this year, all fingers and signs were pointing to Pérez leaving mid-season.
Most had expected Liam Lawson or Daniel Ricciardo to replace Perez, but Red Bull confirmed on the first day of the summer break that Perez and Ricciardo would remain in place with the status quo for the remaining 10 races.
Of course, nothing is decided yet about next season, so as things stand Perez is not safe even for 2025. Ultimately, Red Bull have once again placed their faith in the Mexican driver, with 10 races to spare to save not just his career with the team, but his entire F1 career.
Red Bull Consistency
The former Haas team boss was one of many in the F1 paddock who expected Perez to be fired, but was very surprised to read the news that he will not be fired this season.
Speaking on the Racing News 365 podcast, Steiner said: “I said live on German TV ‘I don’t think Checo will come back after the summer break’.”
“But I think 90 percent, maybe more than 90 percent, of everyone in F1 is saying that because his performances are not there.”
“The only message I got from Christian (Horner) and Helmut (Marko) over the weekend was ‘we need to make some changes’, so that’s why I brought them in.
“I’m not making that up because I can’t judge whether the Czech Republic should stay there or not and I don’t have a vote on that decision, but the message is: yes, there will be some changes.”
“When I read it, I was as surprised as everyone else. No fault of Checo’s, he just didn’t perform well enough.”
Perez is the only driver from the top four teams – Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and McLaren – who has not won a race this year. Like last season, Perez started 2024 well before struggling at Miami and Imola.
The start of his troubles came at the same time that Red Bull was being completely overtaken by McLaren, with the Woking-based team having been neck and neck with the Austrian outfit since introducing major upgrades in Miami.
It’s a gamble for Red Bull to trust Perez to turn things around, but it’s an understandable gamble given how much change is happening within the team following the announcement that both Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley are leaving.
Consistency is important for Red Bull, but so is having two drivers putting in strong performances – McLaren have that and are a title threat – and one thing Red Bull know for sure is that when Perez is on form, he’s always on the podium.
Red Bull needs Checo, and that’s exactly what they need when F1 resumes next weekend at Zandvoort. If he doesn’t get back on track and Red Bull loses the title to McLaren, Perez’s F1 career could be over.
Red Bull have faith in him, but can he deliver for the team when it’s needed most?
