Sergio Perez has been backed by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, despite the speculation of a potential replacement after getting knocked out of Q2 for the fourth time in a row.
Horner mentioned:
"No. Checo, everybody is fully behind [him], so any talk about replacing Checo is wide of the mark."
Sergio Perez had a considerably good lap time during the qualifying session of the Austrian Grand Prix earlier, however, things went South for him soon. His lap time was deleted (for the second time) for exceeding the track limits on the final section of the Red Bull Ring. Many drivers suffered the same fate, contrary to Checo, most of them had the time to set another lap.
This qualifying scenario has been consecutively for Sergio Perez, which started from an early crash during the qualifying session of the Monaco Grand Prix. After he managed to finish only P6 during the Canadian Grand Prix, many speculations rose for him.
Red Bull have an image for replacing drivers mid-way through a season depending on their performance, and the same has been thought for the Mexican.
However, as Christian Horner mentioned, his time with the team seems pretty much to be safe, and there might be some time for him to review and work on his performance.
Sergio Perez feels Alex Albon blocked him during the qualifying in Austria
As surprising as Sergio Perez's Q2 exit during the Austrian GP looks, it seems a little unlikely for an experienced driver like him to make a mistake like the one he made.
He had a defense for him. Referring to his final laps, he mentioned that Alex Albon in the Williams had 'blocked' him during one of the laps, making him lose time, stating it was "a few tenths." PlanetF1 quoted Perez:
"We were a bit confused but then I got the feedback that it was on the way to 10 and it was all clear. I was on a good lap but then all of a sudden on my final lap, I found I think Albon and I just went straight."
Even though he has the option to have a discussion with the F1 stewards about this incident, he mentioned that they wouldn't consider it as a potential 'block', given the circumstances the incident was under.
"I could not stop. I think I lost a tenth or a bit more than that, just by going straight but the stewards wouldn’t consider that I was blocked," Sergio Perez said.