Sergio Perez has been warned that his new two-year Red Bull deal will offer little security if he cannot recapture his form.
That message comes from former racer turned Channel 4 pundit Billy Monger, who says the Red Bull driver “looks lost” after a fresh disastrous display at the Canadian Grand Prix, a race won by his team-mate Max Verstappen.
Sergio Perez warned ‘won’t last long’ at Red Bull at this rate
Without a podium since April’s Chinese Grand Prix, Perez was looking to bounce back from a nightmare race weekend in Monaco, where a Q1 elimination was followed by a huge first-lap collision with the Haas cars.
Perez nonetheless put pen to paper on a new two-year Red Bull contract ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix race weekend, but it did not spark a turnaround in form, Perez again eliminated in Q1 and crashing out of the race on Lap 53.
More of that and Monger fears for Perez’s Red Bull future, regardless of his new deal.
“I mean, he just looks lost at the minute,” said Monger of Perez.
“His form has completely left him at a time where he signed a new contract. So he’s got some serious work to do.
“And he needs to find his confidence again, because that sort of performance in Red Bull, even though he’s got a two-year contract, he won’t last long having performances like that.”
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At the request of Red Bull, Perez coasted back to the pit lane after his trip to the barriers at Turn 5, which breached Article 26.10 of F1’s Sporting Regulations which states that “if a driver has serious mechanical difficulties, he must leave the track as soon as it is safe to do so.”
Perez therefore received a three-place grid drop for the next race in Spain, compounding his misery, while Red Bull were fined €25,000.
Speaking to media about his Canadian GP woes, Perez explained that after picking up damage in an incident with Pierre Gasly at the start, the emergence of a dry line made overtaking difficult later in the race, his efforts ending with that spin into the barriers.
But from here, Perez will look to “regroup” as he made it clear that he has “no doubt” that he can return to his regular podium form from the start of the season.
“The first part of the race was compromised with the damage with Gasly,” said Perez.
“Second part of the race was looking a lot better, third part of the race, but we were just stuck there, there was only one line, we couldn’t get by.
“And unfortunately that meant that in the end, I was coming back and ended up making a mistake into Turn 6, which was one of the most difficult corners, where a lot of drivers made mistakes. But unfortunately, I was one of those few that couldn’t control the car. I did a mistake.
“I think it’s time to regroup, put our head down. There is a long season. A few races ago we’ve been on form, so there is no doubt that I cannot be back to that level.”
Perez sits P5 in the Drivers’ Championship and 87 points behind team-mate Verstappen at the top of the standings.
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