Sergio Perez left helpless as Red Bull ‘contract clause’ emerges amid

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Sergio Perez’s future may be out of his hands with Red Bull reportedly holding a special contract clause. It could allow Red Bull to replace the Mexican at a moment’s notice in exchange for one of their AlphaTauri stars.

According to The Race, there is speculation the clause does exist with Red Bull being able to switch Perez between its two teams at their will. Perez has struggled in recent races with the 33-year-old now in dire form compared to Max Verstappen.

The former Force India star has failed to reach the final part of qualifying at the last five races. He has also picked up just one podium since Monaco as he falls 99 points behind Verstappen.

The pressure appears to have affected Perez whose weekend got off to the worst possible start on Friday. He clipped the grass on the entrance of turn five which pulled the car towards the tyre barrier, destroying the front of his RB19.

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After Silverstone, Red Bull chief Helmut Marko appeared to pile the pressure as he warned Perez’s performances had to improve. He commented: “Perez needs to get a grip on his qualifications… It has always been a weakness of his. It just happens too often and he has to work on that.”

Red Bull have a history of switching their two drivers between their squads at a moment’s notice mid-season. Pierre Gasly was ditched by Red Bull ahead of the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix with Alex Albon stepping into his seat.

Gasly was dropped to AlphaTauri where he remained for three full seasons before being snapped up by Alpine.

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Daniil Kvyat has also suffered a similar fate as he was dropped from the top team in exchange for Max Verstappen. The clause could hand another lifeline to Daniel Ricciardo who is emerging as a serious threat to Perez’s place at the top team.

Ricciardo unseated Nyck de Vries after impressing team bosses at a Silverstone Pirelli tyre test after the British Grand Prix. F1 TV presenter Will Buxton admitted Ricciardo’s new role shows that Red Bull were “seriously assessing” the Australian’s talent.

Ahead of the weekend, Ted Kravitz also hinted that Perez would likely be “checking his contract”.

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