Red Bull Racing entered the summer break after the Belgian Grand Prix knowing all eyes were on the future of their driver line-up.
Max Verstappen doesn’t appear to be going anywhere despite interest from Mercedes and his long-term deal isn’t under any threat.
However, Sergio Perez was in a much more precarious position after the race at Spa.
Things appeared to be going well for the Mexican driver after qualifying alongside Charles Leclerc at the front of the grid.
It was his best Saturday performance in months but the race itself didn’t go to plan and he quickly found himself dropping backwards.
It reached the point in the second stint that Red Bull decided to pit Perez after he was overtaken by George Russell to avoid him holding up his teammate.
Perez once again fulfilled the role of diligent teammate and when it became clear the best he was going to do was finish 8th – which became 7th after Russell’s disqualification – he was pitted onto fresh tyres to take the fastest lap point away from Verstappen’s closest title challenger Lando Norris.
Red Bull sat down on Monday to discuss Perez’s future among other subjects and decided to continue with the experienced driver beyond the summer break.
A clause in Perez’s contract would have allowed them to break the agreement that was signed less than two months ago.
However, he’ll be lining up alongside Verstappen in Zandvoort hoping to bring to an end his growing wait for another Formula 1 podium.
Max Verstappen may have played a part in saving Sergio Perez’s Red Bull seat
Christian Horner, Helmut Marko and other senior Red Bull personnel were tasked with deciding whether Perez was the best driver to help them secure both titles this season.
Their lead in the Constructors’ Championship is slowly slipping away with McLaren and Mercedes now regularly outperforming them during race weekends.
The report from AMuS suggests that Perez ‘may have been helped’ by the fact that Verstappen publicly supported him after the race in Belgium.
Speaking after the race, via GPBlog, Verstappen said: “I think our main concern is the car. That’s what we should focus on mainly.
“I think if you look at Checo’s weekend, it was very positive. Of course, in the race, it just shows that we have difficulties with the tyres.
“I think still, the tyre life. That should be our main priority.”
Sergio Perez will need to make rapid improvement despite Max Verstappen’s support
The report goes on to say that the lack of an obvious replacement also played a key role in Perez surviving becoming the latest Red Bull driver to be replaced midway through a season.
Marko and Horner disagreed on the best driver to step into Perez’s seat which would have made negotiations difficult.
Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda haven’t firmly stated their case for a promotion and Liam Lawson would have represented a huge gamble.
Verstappen does hold some sway at Red Bull and enjoys being the clear number one in the team.
Carlos Sainz wasn’t considered an option by Red Bull because of the issues between his and the Dutchman’s camp.
Perez will hope this decision ends the speculation surrounding his future, but there are still 10 race weekends left and if he doesn’t improve and Red Bull’s lead is eradicated in the Constructors’ Championship, then he could still be out of the door.
