Christian Horner, not Helmut Marko, made call to retain Sergio Perez at Red Bull: Reports

It is being reported that Red Bull team principal Christian Horner made the call to retain Sergio Perez for the rest of the 2024 season, and not advisor Helmut Marko. The latter has been responsible for the junior program and had previously made bold decisions to swap drivers mid-season in F1.

Perez signed a new deal with the Milton Keynes outfit ahead of the Monaco GP earlier this year that would see him racing for them until the end of 2025 with an offer for an extra year. However, despite that, he has been under pressure since the Imola GP and has not recovered his early season form.

Rumors were flying about the Mexican being replaced by Daniel Ricciardo or Liam Lawson during the summer break, but as per Sky Sports's Craig Slater, Horner put his faith in Perez. Slater said:

“It was a decision because, even though Verstappen is in a comfortable position in the driver standings, McLaren are really closing in on Red Bull in the constructors' championship, and at the end of the day, that is the one that pays the money and gets the bonuses.

"It is Perez's uneven points contribution compared to Verstappen's that has weakened their position there. It has been Horner's decision ultimately and he has decided that the least disruptive thing to do is sticking with Perez and he expects an improvement after the summer break." he added.

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Former F1 driver gives a damning verdict on Sergio Perez

Former F1 driver and pundit Johnny Herbert stated his opinion that Sergio Perez was a "broken man" and "like damaged goods" after his lackluster Belgian GP where he finished P8 after starting from P2.

As per Crash.net, Herbert said:

“Sergio Perez was the worst performing driver at the weekend again. He went from the front row backwards and that is not what teams are expecting from their drivers. It is horrible to say but it is like he is damaged goods at the moment. He is a broken man mentally.

“There will normally be a performance clause within any contract and that could allow Red Bull to terminate Perez’s contract because his performances have not been good enough for the last couple of years,” he added.

Perez has not stood on the podium since his third-place finish at the Chinese GP and has been the lowest-scoring driver among the Top 4 teams ever since the race in Imola. His performances have also hampered Red Bull in the constructors' championship as McLaren has rapidly closed the gap on the world champions.

He is currently seventh in the driver's championship with 131 points and helping him retain that position was George Russell losing out on his Belgian GP victory after being disqualified due to an underweight car.