Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is not fully sold on driver Sergio Perez.
The Red Bull second seat seems to have been cursed ever since Daniel Ricciardo left before the 2019 season. Marko has tried different drivers to team up with Max Verstappen, and all of them haven’t worked out. From Pierre Gasly to Alex Albon. both have failed to race at the level expected from them.
Perez joined Red Bull this season, and so far, has settled better than Gasly or Albon. However, as has been the case before, he has been overshadowed by Verstappen. The Mexican has had a solid season, and has even gotten a win. However, it cannot be called a spectacular one.
Italian motorsport journalist Giorgio Terruzzi mentioned Marko’s thoughts on Perez on his podcast after the discussion he had with him.
“Marko, with whom I spoke to the other day, is not happy about Perez,” Terruzzi said.
“He’s a bit disappointed by Tsunoda and is not wanting to take back Gasly, but is considering juniors to side Verstappen next year.”
Marko shared the news of his team’s line-up for the next season, and dropped the news that other options are being considered.
“What I can tell you is that there are some options. We are considering them, but I don’t want to name names,” Marko said.
“The first intention would be to continue with the four drivers we have. For the announcement, it will probably be in Spa or Zandvoort if we fall behind. What is already certain is that we will announce our four drivers, both for AlphaTauri and Red Bull.
The gap between
“There is a gap with Max and he (Perez) is not happy with it. We would also think that it would be closer or more consistent after so many races. He tried to find his own settings instead of using Max’s, and that’s perhaps the best thing for a rider to do.
“You don’t have to be too close to Max’s settings. Max doesn’t care when his F1 oversteers in fast corners. But all our second drivers had problems with that. Perez has experienced the same thing. He tried his settings but it didn’t work, it’s a real headache,” he concluded.
Read more: Helmut Marko blasts out at F1’s double standards following Vettel’s disqualification