F1 Rumor: Ricciardo to replace Perez after summer break (No!) (2nd Update)

(GMM) Sergio Perez will still be a Red Bull driver after Formula 1’s August summer break.

Ahead of decision-makers Dr Helmut Marko and Christian Horner’s Milton-Keynes meeting on Monday, the hopeful Daniel Ricciardo joked that he would leave his “phone on” rather than switch off for an immediate vacation.

“If you start P2 and finish P8, I think it will be a very boring meeting,” former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos had told Ziggo Sport on Sunday.

However, although criticism of Perez’s lacklustre recent form was indeed at fever pitch, team boss Horner addressed factory staff on Monday with good news for the Mexican driver.

“Checo will remain a Red Bull driver, despite all the recent speculation,” he said, according to De Telegraaf newspaper.

“We are looking forward to seeing him again after the summer break on circuits where he has performed very well in the past.”

Horner’s reported comments were verified by official sources, according to London’s Times newspaper.

Red Bull’s powerful F1 consultant Marko insisted the main thrust of the meeting was about technical matters – not just the matter of Perez’s immediate continuity.

Max Verstappen, who has reportedly lobbied repeatedly behind the scenes for Perez to stay, agreed.

“I think our biggest concern is the car and that’s what we need to focus on,” said the world championship leader. “I think Checo’s weekend was positive.

“And during the race you can see that we still have problems with the tires and the degradation. I think our main priority should be to see how we can improve that.”

Marko, meanwhile, said the meeting was also to discuss Red Bull’s driver approach for 2025 – with Liam Lawson and Daniel Ricciardo to go head-to-head at a ‘filming day’ for the junior outfit RB at Imola on Wednesday.

“The meeting is about the future,” the 81-year-old Austrian is quoted as saying by Viaplay, “and about which drivers we’re going to use in 2025.

“We have very good junior drivers. It’s not about one driver specifically, but about how we want to proceed in the future in general.”

This rumor is downgraded to ‘false’ today. According to multiple reports the team is sticking by Pérez for the rest of this season, and not making any changes to their driver lineup following the summer shutdown.

Erik van Haren of De Telegraaf was the first to report this news, followed shortly after that by Chris Medland.

According to Van Haren, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner addressed team members at Red Bull’s Milton Keynes factory on Monday, and said this about Pérez: “‘Checo remains a Red Bull Racing driver, despite all the speculation of recent times. We look forward to seeing him perform on circuits where he has done well before, after the summer break’ Horner said in front of hundreds of employees at the Red Bull factory.”

As noted by Medland, there was serious consideration of a change at Red Bull, but the team is sticking by Pérez despite that rampant speculation.

(GMM) A much-needed summer break may now be looming for Formula 1, but Daniel Ricciardo says he will be leaving his “phone on”.

Red Bull’s patience with the struggling Sergio Perez now seems to be running out, with the Mexican sliding from P2 on the grid at Spa to P8 when he saw the checkered flag.

“That was not satisfactory from Checo,” the energy drink brand’s F1 consultant Dr Helmut Marko declared immediately after the Belgian GP.

Max Verstappen continues to lead the drivers’ standings, but Perez’s failure to come anywhere near the lead car’s points-scoring ability recently has left Red Bull dangerously exposed in the constructors’ table.

“We are now focusing entirely on the team standings,” Marko insists. “McLaren has already made up ground. We need two drivers who can score points regularly,” said team boss Christian Horner.

Perez’s future is now dangling by a thread, with Red Bull’s junior squad RB to put Liam Lawson and Ricciardo head-to-head during a filming day at Imola this week.

“Sergio had the chance to get a good result from second on the grid,” Marko continued. “Unfortunately, he didn’t succeed. Especially in the last stint, he completely collapsed.

“For us, the situation is that we also have to look at the overall situation for 2025,” the Austrian added. “We have a certain number of drivers, and we have a concept.

“Of course, every result is important for Sergio, and finishing eighth after starting second is absolutely not what we expected,” Marko told Sky Deutschland.

Marko said earlier at Spa this his first task after the weekend was to travel back to Milton-Keynes for key talks with Horner. “We will analyze everything and then make a decision,” he confirmed late on Sunday.

It is believed Horner favors a promotion into Perez’s seat for the experienced Ricciardo, while Marko is understood to prefer the promising rookie Lawson.

“I’ll definitely leave the phone on,” smiled Ricciardo when asked about the looming summer break. “You never know what will happen. I’m just trying to secure my future in the sport at the moment – so we’re talking about next year.

“If there is any news, I’ll make sure the phone isn’t too far away. We’ll see what happens,” the 34-year-old Australian added.

As for Verstappen, he has not taken a firm position on what Red Bull should do about Perez. “I don’t think that’s our main problem now,” the triple world champion said.

“Our problem is that we have to find lap time. We will carefully analyze everything that we have done.”

Verstappen finished P5 on Sunday – boosted to P4 with George Russell’s disqualification. “I think this was the maximum achievable,” said the 26-year-old.

“The speed was reasonable, but not very good. From P11 without a speed difference, it doesn’t really work.”

Marko admits Red Bull has plenty of thinking and analysis to do as F1 heads into the summer break. “We need to look at the new parts we put on the car and analyze whether a smaller update package would have been better.

“We have to see if we’re going in the right direction,” he added. “Mercedes were nowhere on Friday, then they changed a few things and ‘poof!’, the car worked.”