The "It’s curtains!" scenario for Sergio Perez at the F1 Belgian GP explored by F1 pundit

F1 pundit Will Buxton claimed that Red Bull could call 'curtains' on Sergio Perez's time at the team if he failed to deliver at the Belgian GP. The race at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps track ahead of the summer break is being touted by many as a make-or-break for the Mexican driver, given his recent run of results in the 2024 season.

The 34-year-old has been under severe pressure ever since the Imola GP where he finished in P8 and Max Verstappen got the win. Despite signing a new deal with the Milton-Keynes outfit ahead of the Monaco GP, Perez's form did not see an uptick, and reports of the team swapping him with Daniel Ricciardo, Liam Lawson, or Yuki Tsunoda gained further momentum.

While appearing on the BBC's Chequered Flag podcast, Buxton laid out a scenario in which Perez could potentially lose his Red Bull seat after Spa. He said:

“Max takes a 10-place grid penalty, Perez has to get the job done. He’s under massive pressure right now because Red Bull’s operating a one-car team. Imagine a scenario where Checo doesn’t out-qualify Max even with Max’s 10-place grid penalty. It’s curtains!”

Meanwhile, ahead of the Belgian GP weekend, Perez was confident that he would continue to be with the team after the summer break as well, saying (via ESPN):

"Yes, correct. Because I know basically what's in my contract and I know what the team trusts in me. And I know where is the main focus, which is on delivering on the track. It's no different to what it was in Hungary or [at the first race] in Bahrain or how it will be in Zandvoort or the rest of the year."

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Sergio Perez analyzes his Free Practice performance at the Belgian GP

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez stated that as a team they hadn't extracted everything out of the RB20 in Spa on Friday as they were experimenting with the setup of the car for qualifying and the main race.

As per F1.com, the Mexican said:

"During the practice sessions, we have been playing around with the set-up but haven’t been able to fully extract everything out of the car yet. The Team got plenty of information from today with both cars running quite differently and there’s a lot to analyze for tomorrow’s strategy."

Perez finished in P7 and P9 in the FP1 and FP2 sessions respectively and never looked as competitive as compared to his teammate Max Verstappen on the track.

The six-time race winner is yet to outqualify his teammate in either the Sprint Qualifying or the main Qualifying and trails 3-0 and 13-0 in as many races. It is essential for the team that he qualify high on the grid to challenge McLaren in the main race on Sunday.