Helmut Marko took no prisoners when he spoke about Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez’s performance at the Belgian Grand Prix. Marko, who advises the team and mentors Perez’s teammate Max Verstappen, has also put new pressure on the Mexican as he fights for his future.
Perez’s contract with Red Bull reportedly includes a clause that would allow the team to fire him if he loses more than a hundred points to Verstappen in the drivers’ championship.
Things were fine for Perez when he qualified on the front row at Spa-Francorchamps, but he slowly dropped through a frustrating day for Red Bull, crossing the finish line eighth before George Russell’s disqualification propelled him to seventh.
What worries Pérez is that the gap between him and Verstappen, fourth in Belgium, now stands at 146 points. And Marko showed no sympathy for him, describing his functionality as a “total breakdown. “
“Sergio had the opportunity to get a good result from second place,” the 81-year-old told Sky Germany. “Unfortunately, it was not to be. Especially in the last stint, he completely collapsed, where he set a lap time of 1:48. 00. What seemed so positive in qualifying, unfortunately did not materialize in the race. “
Regarding Perez’s long career with the team, Marko added: “For us, the scenario is such that we will also review the overall scenario for 2025. We have several drivers and we have a concept. But of course, each and every result is (important). ) for Sergio, and eighth position from the moment on the grid is not what we expected. “
Don’t miss. . . Max Verstappen lashes out at Red Bull mechanics after breaching curfew at Belgium GP [LATEST]
Members of our network benefit from special offers, promotions and advertising from us and our partners. You can check it at any time. Read our privacy policy
We use your registration to provide content in the way you have consented to and as we perceive you to be. This would possibly come from our and third party advertising as we perceive it. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our privacy policy
Despite driving one of the fastest cars on the grid, Pérez has beaten the top five in any of the last 8 Grands Prix. And of the 8 stars who drive for the best teams – Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari – Pérez is dead last in the subject classification.
“It’s a very disappointing race,” he admitted. It started well, I just had a lot of problems on the straights. I think we weren’t smart with the tyres today. The balance is not there either, so there are many things to analyze on our side. On Saturday, I had a smart qualifying, a smart day, that doesn’t replace anything. “
Perez’s temper became tense when asked if he would definitely be a driving force for Red Bull when F1’s stars reunited after the four-week summer break. He said: “I think there’s too much going on in the team and too many things that we want to move on, and we can’t waste energy with all this speculation.
“This is the last time I will talk about the future, so to make it transparent to everyone, I will possibly not communicate anymore. I may not answer questions about the future. “
Would you like to receive Daily Express notifications?