“He simply lacks consistently good performance”: Helmut Marko gives damming verdict on Sergio Perez’s F1 struggles

Helmut Marko has shared his take on Sergio Perez's recent turmoil. The Red Bull driver has been on a roller coaster ride this season, and citing this, Marko has called out the Mexican driver's inconsistency in terms of performance coming into 2024.

Perez has had back-to-back underwhelming performances, finishing outside the points despite driving the RB20. In doing so, he has cost Red Bull valuable points in the constructors' championship. This has come to haunt them now as McLaren are right behind them in the standings.

Furthermore, Perez's inability to score points has put all the burden on the shoulders of Max Verstappen, who has scored 68 percent of the points for the Austrian team so far. Besides this, Checo's shortcomings have also brought turbulence within the Red Bull camp.

Paddock chatters suggest that Red Bull might replace Sergio Perez with Daniel Ricciardo or Yuki Tsunoda after the summer break. Renowned outlets have also reported that Checo could lose his contract at the end of this year.

While Red Bull want him to perform on most occasions, Checo Perez, so far, has only seldom managed to shine. Citing this, Marko, the Red Bull taskmaster, wrote in his column with SpeedWeek,

"Let's talk about Sergio Pérez for a moment: A GP weekend that was typical of Pérez, I would say, unpredictable - very good on Friday, only just behind Verstappen and with the best long runs of all the drivers, then, unfortunately, a stupid mistake in qualifying, which resulted in 16th place on the grid, followed by a very strong race up to 7th place."

"He continues to have this up and down, nobody knows when he will shine or when he will make a mistake, he simply lacks consistently good performance," Marko added.

Interestingly, Helmut Marko was referring to Perez's Hungarian Grand Prix result from last Sunday. He was brilliant in the Free Practice sessions, but lost out in Q1. In the end, he recovered brilliantly to have a P7 finish to save the day.

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Why does Sergio Perez need to step up in Belgium?

Sergio Perez at the Hungarian GP (Image via Getty Images)

Sergio Perez is in a do-or-die situation ahead of the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Red Bull need to clear McLaren's looming threat in the Constructors' Championship before going into the summer break.

With Max Verstappen having a 10-place grid penalty on his head, it's time for the man from Guadalajara to step up and deliver. He remains the only driver in the top eight in the Drivers' championship not to win a race this season.

A win at Spa-Francorchamps this Sunday, amid Verstappen's absence up front, could turn his future around for good. It will be interesting to see if he can stand up to the occasion and deliver.