“We have too much going on in the team”: Sergio Perez sets the record straight on his F1 future

Sergio Perez refused to answer questions surrounding speculation about his future of being replaced over the summer break at Red Bull Racing. Speaking to onsite media after the Belgium GP, the Mexican was certain of a return to action at the Dutch GP in Zandvoort.

Starting second on the grid, Sergio Perez had a strong qualifying session to suggest the possibility of renewed form. However, in the race, he was eclipsed by seven cars ahead, including his teammate Max Verstappen who had started 11th on the grid due to an engine penalty. The Mexican crossed the finish line in eighth place and was promoted to seventh as a result of race winner George Russell being disqualified.

Perez remains adamant about returning to the Dutch GP in Zandvoort after the summer break despite his underwhelming result. On a day when Verstappen struggled, the expectation from the Mexican was to bite into McLaren’s share of the points. However, finishing outside the top five did not help the points margin in the constructors' championship. It has been speculated that Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson are candidates to potentially replace Perez. The Australian even confirmed that the RB filming day could be a test in disguise for a potential job with the senior team.

Asked if he is confident he will return to race in Zandvoort amid all the speculation surrounding his future, Sergio Perez said:

“Correct.”

Asked about how important it was to get a good response from the car and race to secure his future, Sergio Perez said:

“As I said before yesterday I had a good qualifying and a good day. It doesn't change anything. I think we have too much going on in the team and a lot of things that we have to focus on and we cannot waste any energy with all this speculation. So this is the last time I will speak about the future so just to make it clear for everyone. I will not be speaking anymore I will not answer any more questions about the future.”

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Sergio Perez believed the strategy and lack of performance made the Belgian GP tricky

Sergio Perez claimed to be struggling for performance on the straights against cars ahead. He felt that the poor straight-line performance, coupled with an early pitstop made it difficult to achieve a satisfactory outcome. At the start, he was squeezed by Lewis Hamilton and later lost a place to Oscar Piastri. However, the Red Bull Racing driver felt the limitation of having only two sets of mediums made it difficult to execute a proper race. He also felt that he lacked car balance and tire performance throughout the race. Perez added that there was a lot to analyze about the race, and he was unsure if he was pitted early to clear the road for Max Verstappen.

Asked if it was a disappointing race, Sergio Perez said:

“It started well, I was just struggling a lot on the straights. I don't know what was going on but I had to save battery early on in the first couple of laps and I was just very weak on the straights. Once I managed to clear it, charge it back a bit, I was pretty much the same as Lewis and Charles. I was staying there but then the second stint jumping onto the medium tire, with all the traffic behind, it just made it really difficult, very tricky and we did quite a short stint as well. We were just out of sync, and just good with tires. The balance wasn't there either. So yeah, plenty of things to analyze on our side.”

Asked if his second stint was short to help Verstapppen clear cars ahead, Perez said:

“I don’t know why we went so short. We were obviously very compromised by having two sets of mediums. So again basically it’s not a perfect execution and we will get together as a team and try to understand it.”

Sergio Perez has scored 131 points in the last fourteen races, but he is 146 points behind his teammate. The gap between the duo has resulted in McLaren closing in on Red Bull in the constructors' championship. The Milton Keynes team are currently leading the title race with a total of 408 points, but their gap to McLaren has reduced from 51 points to 42 after the Belgian GP. Although McLaren were on the back foot in Spa and Mercedes claimed the win, the diminishing margin will have the reigning champions worried going into summer break.