Perez Red Bull AXE hands Ricciardo huge chance

Sergio Perez's Formula 1 career is all but over. The bigger question is now how Red Bull boss Christian Horner shuffles his pack around Max Verstappen.

The decline of Perez across the past two seasons, save for a short burst of form at the start of this year, has been monumental and many will be scratching their head over how Checo is still on the grid while the likes of Daniel Ricciardo and Logan Sargeant have already been turfed out their seats.

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Perez started the season as the rear gunner for Verstappen, picking up six consecutive top five finishes including four podiums. It was form that was rewarded with a new contract. He hasn't been able to crack the top five since. Worse than that he barely looks able of getting anywhere near it these days. So what should Red Bull do with him? Have your say in our GPFans poll at the bottom of the page.

He could perhaps call it unfortunate that he didn't get at least a podium in Azerbaijan after outperforming Verstappen but even then, the fact it's not a shock when he ends up out in Q1 in a car that's challenging for a world championship is enough cause for concern over whether a driver is up to the job.

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You may argue that the Red Bull is no longer the dominant car it was at the start of the season and there is a natural performance tax of being Verstappen's team-mate which adds a two or, max, three tenth of a second grace in slower lap times. But Perez is often wildly short of this mark too and it seems he is set to finish a clear bottom of the drivers in the top four teams. Right now he has 150 points and that's well under half of Verstappen's 362 out in front.

Then there are just getting the basics wrong. How can a driver as experienced as Perez be missing his marks of where to start from as was the case in Mexico to pick up a five-second penalty?

We are at the point where replacing Perez now carries little if no risk at all, it's hard to see how it gets worse from here. The error in Mexico also perhaps alludes to just how scrambled he is under pressure and out of form to the point that replacing him now is probably just as good for him as everyone else inside Red Bull. That's even if he continues to put a brave face on it suggesting he will be back to try and win his home race next year. Who's buying that?

It's a shame because Perez is becoming a joke on the grid and that is a huge disservice to his overall time as an F1 driver. At his peak the 34-year-old was a driver hugely capable of winning a race and his move to Red Bull in 2021 - and including his first season at the team - were well earned and matching of the expectations from him as an important rear gunner for Verstappen in his fierce title fight with Lewis Hamilton.

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How would this work? Liam Lawson gets a chance to race alongside Verstappen for the rest of the season as a trial for 2025 and Daniel Ricciardo is simply given the chance to race the final few grands prix of his own career at RB where he can be given a much happier send off in Abu Dhabi, following the unofficial sad farewell he got in Singapore.

How much worse can that scenario be? Can Lawson really be as bad as Perez is now in the main team? Would Perez perform any better at VCARB (would he want the drive anyway?) as Ricciardo had been performing prior to his Marina Bay exit?

Horner may talk of 'difficult decisions', and he is probably thinking of the human element behind all of this which of course has merits, but on a purely sporting value it seems an obvious solution is presenting itself here.

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