After a row of speculations and suspense, the Red Bull team have decided to stick with Sergio Perez. The RBR second seat was open for speculation in the past few weeks. It was due to Checo’s consistent downturn, as he failed to seal the top spots. Since Miami GP in May, he has scored 28 points. At the same time, the experienced racer has been unable to finish in the top five.
However, the team has made it clear to continue with Perez for the remainder of 2024. The news came on Monday after the meeting of RBR delegates. While Daniel Ricciardo was always in contention, Checo got teh preference.
Red Bull Picks Sergio Perez Over Daniel Ricciardo
Mercedes recovered from a terrible start to perform admirably at the Belgian Grand Prix. Meanwhile, the Red Bull squad faced another difficult challenge. While Max Verstappen won the pole on Saturday, he had to start his Sunday race from P11 owing to the PU penalty. However, all eyes were on Sergio Perez since this may be his final appearance in the Red Bull F1 vehicle. He had an excellent start to the race but failed to finish in the top three again. As a result, it bolstered claims that the team might replace Checo with Daniel Ricciardo.
The VCARB racer finished 10th in the Belgian Grand Prix. He was later spotted with RBR Chief Christian Horner and VCARB Leader Laurent Mekies chatting after the race. As soon as the clip was put online, supporters were sure that Checo would be replaced. However, according to Telegraaf journalist Erik Van Haren, Checo will stay with Red Bull. On his Twitter account, he wrote about the confirmation. Moreover, he quoted Christian Horner, who brushed off all the rumours. Further, the decision could be due to the upcoming circuits like Azerbaijan and Italian GP, where Perez had performed exceptionally well.
According to a report by Motorsport.com, senior personnel like Christina Horner and Helmut Marko were in favor of retaining Perez. The team wants to improve its F1 vehicle and alter it to meet the 34-year-old driver’s requirements. Additionally, senior Red Bull Racing delegates believe it is better to customize the car for Perez rather than bring in a new driver, which could potentially exacerbate the issue.
Max Verstappen Urges The Team To Focus On Solving RB20 Issues
After the Belgian GP, Max Verstappen noticed that while the car’s balance was tolerable for the first few circuits, driving in traffic complicated matters and exacerbated their difficulties. The squad was not as fast as the vehicles around them, thus they became trapped in the DRS train. Verstappen believed the team performed to the best of their abilities on the day despite these issues.
