Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Dawn breaks on a pivotal Saturday for Sergio Pérez
Welcome to the biggest Saturday of Sergio Pérez’s Formula 1 career.
Okay that may be overstating things a bit.
But not by much.
The Red Bull driver is under the harshest of microscopes as things get underway on Saturday ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Pérez, who has not seen a Q3 since the Miami Grand Prix at the start of May, did not have the best of Fridays. During a wet and soggy FP1, Pérez put his RB19 ever-so-slightly into the grass early in the session, and the resulting spinout saw his Red Bull car careen into the barriers, ending his first practice of the weekend.
While his team did yeoman’s work to get his RB19 ready for FP2, Pérez’s struggles continued. In the second session Friday he could only manage a P18. Making things worse, he posted his best time on the soft tyres but finished behind every other driver that used the soft compound.
The two drivers he finished ahead of — Oscar Piastri and George Russell — posted their best times on the mediums.
Following the session, Pérez insisted he was positive heading into the weekend.
“Today, the incident in FP1 was a mistake from my side. However, the Team have done a tremendous job to get the car together so we could get some laps in for FP2 and, with the new tyre format this weekend, it was great to get some good information and data to look through. Regarding our new upgrades, it is quite early to comment and understand how they will come into play, but we will have a better idea of this tomorrow. Finally, I am positive about qualifying tomorrow and we have everything in place to go out and have a solid weekend.”
Pérez also took to social media to thank his team for their hard work in getting his RB19 ready for FP2:
Thank you to the mechanics back at the garage for the tremendous job they did to get the car back on track for FP2. Better feelings for tomorrow, we will give it everything we’ve got.
Gracias a todo mi equipo en el garaje por el tremendo trabajo que hicieron para devolver el… pic.twitter.com/mOo62ruG1o
— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) July 21, 2023
However positive he may be, the pressure is mounting on him to improve his form, particularly during qualifying. Even teammate Max Verstappen added to the urgency in recent weeks, stating at the British Grand Prix that Q3 should be the “minimum” for the team given the strength of the RB19.
Then of course there is the ever-present “silly season” factor. While Pérez is technically under contract through the 2024 season, Red Bull has been, let’s just say “less than patient” with their second drivers.
A fact that a few different drivers pointed out during Thursday’s media sessions, when addressing the dismissal of Nyck de Vries from AlphaTauri.
“That’s how Red Bull do it,” said Lewis Hamilton when asked about the team’s decision to cut de Vries. “I’d say that’s how Red Bull works.”
“It’s not the first time Red Bull has made decisions like this,” stated Valtteri Bottas. “They obviously follow their view what is the best.”
“It’s happened to many other drivers,” added Lando Norris. “I know it’s happened in that team more than any other team. It is brutal because it’s someone’s career.”
Pérez’s struggles, combined with Red Bull’s history, have made for rampant speculation about his future with the team. While such speculation was simmering already, the return of Daniel Ricciardo to the grid has certainly kicked those rumors up a notch. Ricciardo himself has called a potential return to Red Bull his “fairytale” ending, something that Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner himself discussed in recent days.
Then there is Ricciardo’s new teammate, Yuki Tsunoda. Part of the decision to replace De Vries might lie in giving the team a better view of Tsunoda’s performance. Tsunoda was having the better run of form at AlphaTauri, having out-qualified De Vries in seven of ten races and securing the team’s only points on the season.
Was that due to his own growth, or De Vries’ struggles? With Ricciardo in the fold, AlphaTauri and Red Bull will get a clearer answer to that questions.
Following Friday’s crash in Q1 Dan Drury, a former member of Red Bull, posited on social media that the driver needed “something special” in the Hungarian Grand Prix to save his seat:
Checo is well into the Red Bull 2nd seat of death spiral
He needs to do something special this weekend or Marko will be showing him the door for next season pic.twitter.com/nkwmjiQRGG
— Dan – EngineMode11 (@EngineMode11) July 21, 2023
All these issues are simmering in the background as Pérez takes to the track Saturday, for what could be a pivotal day in his F1 career. If he advances to his first Q3 since May and gets the RB19 to the front of the grid for Sunday’s main event? The pressure may ease for a bit.
But if he struggles again, might he actually inch closer to the exit?
