"Sergio Perez's recent form cost Red Bull the Constructor Championship"- F1 pundit's damning verdict on the Austrian team retaining the 6x race winner

F1 pundit Scott-Mitchell Malm claimed that Red Bull's decision to retain Sergio Perez could cost the team a shot at the 2024 Constructors' Championship given his current form. There have been several reports indicating that the Mexican driver would be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo or Liam Lawson in the summer break in the Austrian team's attempt to regain its hold in the Constructors' Championship.

Despite the Milton-Keynes outfit renewing Perez's contract ahead of Monaco this year for potentially two more years, the six-time race winner's form has not taken the upward trend that Red Bull would have hoped.

The team's decision to go with Perez for the remainder of the 2024 season did not sit well with Mitchell-Malm, who on "The Race F1 Podcast" mentioned that it could cost Red Bull the Constructors' Championship with McLaren breathing down the team's neck heading into the summer break. He said:

"The facts are on current form and that his form in the majority of the season for the last eight races of the 14 we've had so far - Perez's form is such that that will cost Red Bull the championship. They are losing nine points a race over the last eight Grand Prix to McLaren and they are lucky that they haven't lost more. [08:34]

"If McLaren had maximized things and done a better job, McLaren might even have been leading the championship going into the summer break. That form as I say will cost Red Bull the Constructor Championship unless Perez sorts it out."

Notably, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stated that after his meeting with director Helmut Marko post the 2024 Belgian GP, they as a team had decided to back Sergio Perez despite his recent form.

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Red Bull team boss confirms Sergio Perez for the rest of 2024

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said (via ESPN):

"Checo remains a Red Bull Racing driver despite recent speculation and we look forward to seeing him perform at tracks he has previously excelled at after the summer break."

Sergio Perez too had emphatically shut down speculations regarding his future in F1 after finishing P8 in Spa. He told F1.com:

“I don’t think I will be responding anymore to any future speculation. I’m here with the team fully committed. As a team we have a lot of stuff to focus on to get ourselves ready for the second half of the season. I’ve had enough of the speculation, I’ve said everything I have to."

The Mexican is currently P7 in the 2024 Drivers' Championship with 131 points and retains that spot due to George Russell's DSQ at the Belgian GP that would have seen him slip to P8.

Red Bull heads into the summer break with a slender advantage of 42 points over McLaren, which has been the fastest car over the last eight races.