Perez's Red Bull future at RISK with self-inflicted errors spelling the end

The stony look on the faces of Red Bull's mechanics spoke volumes.

Sergio Perez, seemingly battling for his Red Bull life despite public claims to the contrary from his bosses, looked to leave his troubles behind him as he embarked on his first flying lap in FP1 ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

While he twisted and powered his way through the early corners of the unforgiving circuit, his mind would, if only for a brief flicker of a second, have surely snapped to the recent qualification failures that have raised questions over his future.

And in his desperate bid to change the picture and steal back the headlines, he stumbled. At turn five, Perez was guilty of dipping a wheel onto the grass, sending him into an uncontrollable spin. Unable to correct it, he careered into the barrier.

The red flags were promptly waved, bringing a premature halt to the session, and the camera shot then cut to the scene inside the Red Bull garage.

They may have only featured on screen for a matter of moments, but the grave expressions of the engineers gathered around the screens told the full story. The official line is that Perez is not yet at risk, but frustration is certainly building.

And with that comes heightened scrutiny, with every move analysed and broken down into its most basic parts. Quite simply, it is now or never for the Mexican.

READ MORE: Perez in COSTLY crash during rain-hit FP1 in Hungary with Mercedes fastest

Pressure from Ricciardo

His quandary has been made worse by the return of Daniel Ricciardo, the ever-smiling hot shot handed an olive branch with AlphaTauri, Red Bull's feeder team. There is no doubting Ricciardo's determination to reach the top again.

Suddenly, there is a tangible contender for Perez's seat active on the grid. It would not be difficult for Red Bull to make the change, either, and it will be no surprise should the team decide to start assessing their options for next year.

Ricciardo planned to take a back seat this campaign after making way at McLaren and was snapped up by Red Bull to act as their third driver, providing support for Perez and Verstappen. Now, he will look to rival them on the grid.

Clearly, he has already made an impression on his former team. After just shy of a dozen laps during the recent Pirelli tyre test in the RB19, Ricciardo's performance was deemed impressive enough for him to oust rookie Nyck de Vries.

Perez, for his part, waved away suggestions he would view Ricciardo as a threat for 2025 as "nonsense" and has not spoken to Christian Horner about the move.

"From my side, it doesn't change anything, because I drive for Red Bull," he said. "There's not just Daniel out there. It's Yuki [Tsunoda], it's more than half of the grid (who) would like to drive for Red Bull. So, it doesn't change anything."

However, there is no avoiding the inescapable fact that Ricciardo resembles a very obvious challenger for his spot, with all eyes now fixed firmly on Perez.

Horner support... for now

Any further mistakes will heap further fuel on the fire of speculation and historically, once the blaze has become an inferno, there is often no way back.

Worryingly for him, drivers that have passed the point of forgiveness at Red Bull have rarely been given a reprieve, such is the ruthlessness within their camp. Perez has Horner's full support for now, but the situation is likely to be volatile.

Already, his impressive displays - and two race wins - from earlier in the season are but a distant memory. Perez has failed to kick on and provide a genuine challenge for Verstappen, instead slipping back to being his clear understudy.

Horner believes Perez's mistakes are born from the pressure he is applying on his own shoulders, rather than any external forces wreaking havoc. If that is indeed the case, it simply must stop to bring an end to this spiral of self-inflicted misery.

The only man capable of reversing this sinking ship is Perez himself and that mission must start now, commencing with his recovery mission in Hungary.

Tellingly, after his shunt early on Friday, Perez shared a wry, nervy smile with Helmut Marko. He will know more than anyone that time is running out.

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