Red Bull told Perez has committed a ‘sackable offence’ ahead of Hungarian GP
Horner opens up on Red Bull’s ‘barren spell’ amid Mercedes dominance
Sergio Perez may have committed a “sackable offence” at Red Bull, according to one of the team’s former stars. Jaime Alguersuari, who raced for Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso, suggested Perez’s form is “not acceptable” as the Mexican continues to struggle.
Alguersuari even suggested the 33-year-old could see his F1 contract terminated after a string of poor results. Perez has not reached the final part of qualifying at any of the last five races despite having one of the most dominant cars in recent F1 history.
Perez has been eliminated in Q1 on three occasions including last time out at the British Grand Prix. Alguersuari had three seasons at Toro Rosso before he and Sebastian Buemi were replaced by Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne for 2012.
The Spaniard told Sky Sports F1: “It’s not acceptable that Perez is always half a second or seven-tenths slower. If your team-mate is winning all the races, you have to at least be on the podium, not on your best day being on the podium.
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“You have to be closer otherwise they have the right to replace you. There are many drivers on the grid that could definitely be much closer to Max.” Perez has a deal until the end of 2024 but could find that the ruthless Red Bull bosses easily replace him if poor results continue.
Nyck de Vries was quickly eliminated after the British Grand Prix with Ricciardo to take his place. Red Bull were keen to stress Ricciardo was “on loan” at AlphaTauri, suggesting the team still had uses for the Australian star.
The move left Sky Sports host Ted Kravitz to suggest Perez would be “checking the terms of his contract”. Reports have suggested Red Bull bosses have also held talks with Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris over a possible link-up.
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Alguersuari added that Perez would have already been sacked if he was in a similar position to De Vries.
He commented: “We have to be clear that Checo was never in the junior team. If he was, considering how Helmut Marko judges drivers, he would not have lasted a year. You have a winning car and have to use it. I know people will think, ‘what are you saying, your best place was seventh?’ I didn’t have a chance to drive a winning car and I’m just saying your first rival is your team-mate.”
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