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Red Bull taskmaster Helmut Marko touched upon reports of Franco Colapinto replacing Sergio Perez at Red Bull. Addressing the situation, Marko said that the Williams driver won't replace Perez.
Following back-to-back underwhelming performances, paddock chatters suggest Perez's removal from the defending champions. The Guadalajara-born driver's inability to help Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship cost them P1 to McLaren this season.
Furthermore, they are eight points away from Ferrari, who are breathing down their neck in P3. Notably, Perez's performance in the recently concluded United States Grand Prix at Austin didn't help his cause either.
Following the conclusion of the COTA race, numerous rumors regarding Perez's removal from Red Bull began to surface. Multiple drivers' names came to the forefront, with one being Franco Colapinto of Williams.
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"It’s an unusual situation," Marko told Kleine Zeitung about Colapinto's chances in Red Bull.
"He didn’t stand out in any junior category. Of course, he was good, but not exceptional. But he struck us with his ice-cold determination, even though he was thrown in at the deep end like Liam Lawson."
Moreover, Marko also admitted that Colapinto's Williams contract in 2025 has also been a blockade in securing the deal.
"The problem with him is that he has a long-term contract with Williams
Williams appointed Colapinto after sacking American F1 driver Logan Sargent following the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix. The Argentine driver made his debut in the Italian Grand Prix and raked in five appearances till the US GP.
Helmut Marko puts his faith in Red Bull drivers as potential Sergio Perez's replacement
Besides snubbing Franco Colapinto, Helmut Marko also ruled out going for any other driver as Sergio Perez's replacement at Red Bull. He said that he has full faith in the Red Bull fraternity's current driver line-ups:
"We are also in a good position with our own junior drivers. We are not going to train anyone for another team."
Red Bull has Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson in their sister team RB line-up. Besides them, the Austrian team's driver academy also boasts enormous talents such as Ayumi Iwasa, Isack Hajdar and more.
Sergio Perez is P8 of the Drivers' Championship with 150 points, trailing his teammate Max Verstappen by a whopping 204 points after 19 races and four Sprints. Surprisingly, Perez is the only driver in the top four teams who's winless this season.
