05 December 2023 , 07:00
714
0
Red Bull ambassador David Coulthard thinks Sergio Perez has a lot to prove if he is to save his career with the team.
The Mexican's current deal ends in 12 months. And, as it stands, Red Bull will be considering all the options at their disposal after a particularly unconvincing season third season as Max Verstappen's team-mate.
While the Dutchman consistently got the most out of the fearsome RB19 to romp to the title, Perez found things trickier. He managed second place in the championship but, given the car he had, should have wrapped that up many weeks before he actually did, in the penultimate race.
There is plenty of speculation over the 33-year-old's future as a result. Red Bull plan to honour their contract with him, but will no hesitate to replace him in the middle of next season if his performances and results do not live up to the required standard.
Coulthard, a 13-time F1 race winner, thinks improvements will be needed if Perez is to save his Red Bull career. "Checo wasn't as far away from this team-mate as some but, unfortunately for him of course, when Max was winning and he's not finishing second, it really puts a very difficult spotlight on him," the Scot said on his Formula For Success podcast.
Sebastian Vettel warns of looming F1 ban and is "very worried about the future"
"He's survived it, but he's definitely going to, in my opinion, have to do some serious work over the winter to fully understand or accept the differences between him and Max. At the beginning of the year, he was talking about the world championship battles and he was kind of getting his shoulders and his chest out
"I suspect part of that was his management team who are not only there to see him try and win Grand Prix but to sell him commercially. So, if the message is this guy's a world champion in waiting, then that helps the negotiations. I think now they probably need to take a slightly different view which is he is the best partner to a Max, a phenomenon and then you can knuckle down."
The reality is, given Red Bull's place at the very front of the grid, there are a whole heap of drivers who would jump at the chance to replace Perez should the opportunity arise. And the team is in the strong position of having a couple of very capable drivers already on the books.
Daniel Ricciardo has made no secret of his desire to return to the seat he vacated years ago to escape from Verstappen's shadow, and has the next season at AlphaTauri to prove he's still got it. And team-mate Yuki Tsunoda has been making steady improvements, catching the eye this year with his early and late-season form in particular.
External options are also present, such as Lando Norris who has been wanted by Red Bull for years. There remain questions over whether he would be prepared to leave McLaren, who want him to sign a new deal, but even if he doesn't and the team decides they need a better option than Ricciardo or Tsunoda, then Carlos Sainz might fit the bill seeing as Ferrari don't seem to be committed to the Spaniard.