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If you follow Formula 1—or just happen to stray a little too close to the motorsport fanatic sphere—then you know Red Bull Racing and its junior team, VCARB, have been the center of the gossip mill regarding mid-season driver swaps. Now, after a messy Mexico Grand Prix, those questions are even fiercer: Will Sergio Perez last the whole season? If not, is there anyone ready to take his place?
On the ground in Mexico this weekend, the answer to both questions seemed to be a resounding “no.”
Let’s start with some context. In 2021, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won a controversial championship over the once-dominant Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton—and promptly signaled a changing of the guard heading into 2022, when the technical and racing regulations faced a significant overhaul.
The momentum of 2021 launched Red Bull—but most particularly its wunderkind Verstappen—into a new era of dominance that threatened to bore viewers and undo all of the hard-earned popularity Formula 1 had gained after millions of lockdown-bound viewers tuned into Netflix’s Drive to Survive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023, a clear performance disparity between Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez became incredibly obvious, but Red Bull was still dominant enough that the Mexican driver finished second in the World Drivers’ Championship.
Still, in AlphaTauri—Red Bull’s junior team, now known as VCARB—changes were taking place. Former Formula E champion Nyck de Vries was dropped as a result of underperformance, to be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo, a former Red Bull driver who had defected when it became clear the team would be centering its efforts around Max Verstappen.
Ricciardo, though, suffered a wrist injury almost immediately, seeing him replaced by young driver Liam Lawson. Despite some impressive performances on Lawson’s part, Ricciardo returned to the seat to finish out the 2023 season, and was signed on to partner with Yuki Tsunoda through 2024.
Then came 2024, and the rumors that Perez was set to be dropped by Red Bull, perhaps to be replaced by Ricciardo. As it transpired, Ricciardo was unceremoniously dropped from VCARB after the Singapore Grand Prix.
All of this has taken place against a backdrop of chaos within the team: Accusations of sexual harassment levied against Christian Horner, infighting among Horner and Max’s father Jos Verstappen, and the departure of many team members.
Though Red Bull team boss Christian Horner reaffirmed the team’s confidence in Sergio Perez—and VCARB’s confidence in both Lawson and Tsunoda—the situation has decidedly changed in the aftermath of the Mexico Grand Prix.
Hometown hero Sergio Perez, who had been hoping for a solid weekend in his native country, had a disaster of a race. A poor qualifying session saw him start the race in 18th position, and the race wasn’t much better. He finished in 17th, the last running car on the grid, after an uninspired performance and contact with VCARB driver Liam Lawson saw him spend much of the race outside of the top 10. A last-lap pit stop to secure the fastest lap also failed.
After the race, Perez was heated when speaking to the media, pinning much of the blame for a lack of success on Lawson’s shoulders.
“I have a maneuver into Turn 4 and then he was outside the track and just came straight like if there was no car you know,” Perez said. “I think he could have avoided the incident but he just went back. Luckily I saw him and I opened the room, otherwise, it would have been a massive crash.”
But his criticism of Lawson extended far beyond his on-track performance.
“I think I don’t have any relationship with him,” an obviously frustrated Perez said when asked about whether or not he’d talk to Lawson. “I think the way he has come to Formula 1, I don’t think he has the right attitude for it. He needs to be a bit more humble, you know. When a two-time World Champion [Alonso] was saying things last weekend, he completely ignored him.
“When you come to Formula 1, you’re obviously very, very hungry and so on, but you have to be as well respectful off track and on track. I don’t think he’s showing the right attitude to show a good case for himself, because I think he’s a great driver and I hope for him that he can step back and learn from it.
“In his two first grands prix, he has had too many incidents. And I think there will be a point where it can cost him too much, like it did this weekend.
“I just think that he has to have the right attitude to say, ‘Look, probably I’m overdoing it a little bit. I will step back and start again,’ you know.
“And it’s all the learning you have to do as a youngster, because if you don’t learn from your mistakes, Formula 1 is a brutal world and he might not continue.”
If anyone would know about the brutality of Formula 1, it would be Perez—and that brutality reared its head in a post-race media session with Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who adamantly refused to confirm that Perez would remain with the team throughout the remainder of 2024.
“Checo, again, has had a horrible weekend, and nothing’s gone right for him this weekend,” he said. “He knows Formula 1 is a results-based business and, inevitably, when you’re not delivering then the spotlight is firmly on.
“When anyone is underperforming, of course, there is always going to be scrutiny on that. As a team, we need to have both cars scoring points. That’s the nature of F1. There comes a point in time when difficult decisions have to be made. We’re now third in the Constructors’ Championship.”
But who’s prepared to replace Perez? Ask Christian Horner, and he’ll tell you that both Lawson and Tsunoda are struggling at the moment.
Horner admitted that Lawson did apologize to Perez for making contact—and then for flipping him the bird as he passed by—but Red Bull young driver advisor Helmut Marko told ESPN after the race, “We are brother teams and Lawson should not drive as hard as he did. [Lawson] reacted too strongly.”
And then there’s Yuki Tsunoda. While Red Bull has finally confirmed that the Japanese driver will complete a test behind the wheel of the RB20 after the conclusion of the 2024 season, many have suggested that the test is merely the result of pressure from power unit maker Honda—not from the team’s desire to promote him.
Tsunoda admitted to media on Thursday that “there’s probably something going on in the background that I didn’t know.” Further, in an exclusive conversation with Helmut Marko, I learned that the team has no expectations for Tsunoda during his test, and that “we just want to see how our young drivers are doing.”
Even Verstappen, the backbone of the Red Bull outfit, has been struggling of late. The once-dominant driver last won a Grand Prix in Spain—11 races ago. Since then, he’s scored four podiums, but every other race has seen him finish in fourth, fifth, or sixth.
That’s hardly cause for panic on the driver front, as Verstappen still leads the World Drivers’ Championship with four races remaining in 2024. But for the team, Red Bull just dropped to third overall in the Constructors’ Championship after a dismal Mexico City Grand Prix.
“Our determination is to try and try and get back into a winning position, but it’s going to be a tall order over these next four races,” Horner told media after the race.
But how can Red Bull improve? Is retaining Checo the answer, despite the driver’s middling performances? Is it time to promote Lawson or Tsunoda—both of whom have seemingly left VCARB wanting more? Will we see the triumphant return of Daniel Ricciardo—a driver who faced ample criticism from Red Bull in the press? Or is it time to look outside of the Red Bull organization for more competent, reliable talent?
For Red Bull, after the Mexico City Grand Prix, there is no right answer.
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