F1: Will Red Bull sack Sergio Perez immediately? (Update)

(GMM) Sergio Perez’s future at Red Bull became even more clouded on Friday when he crashed during his opening practice laps at the Hungaroring.

With Daniel Ricciardo back in racing action in the Red Bull family this weekend and Yuki Tsunoda also still shining in the sister Alpha Tauri, former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher said the crash was the last thing Perez needed.

“This cannot happen,” he told Sky Deutschland. “I predict he will lose his place in the long run.

“And maybe Ricciardo’s return to the wheel of Red Bull is closer than we all think.”

Most believe the 33-year-old is now spiraling downwards as the pressure mounts.

“The mental factor is very, very important,” Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost told Bild newspaper when asked about Perez’s situation.

“You win and lose races in your head. Formula 1 is a very tough business.”

Worse still for Perez is that he crashed before collecting any data for Red Bull about its new and rare-in-2023 car update.

“Now he has no more spare parts,” Dr Helmut Marko confirmed.

However, with Perez already contracted for 2024 – and with multiple powerful Mexican sponsors part of the deal – Marko insists that his seat is safe for now.

“If Ricciardo presents himself well, he could certainly be an issue for Red Bull Racing in the future,” said Marko.

“But that will certainly only be possible after the end of the 2024 season, when Perez’s contract expires.”

Marko told motorsport-magazin.com that, on Friday, Ricciardo was “close to Tsunoda” except on the soft tires in qualifying trim.

“He needs to improve on the fast lap to get more in qualifying – that’s our goal,” he said. “There is still a third training session for this so I hope we can solve these problems.”

Alpha Tauri’s Tost believes Japanese Tsunoda will also be a candidate for Perez’s top seat.

“Of course that depends on the further results,” he said. “There are already discussions with our partner Honda.

“If you take this year’s performances, you can assume that it can happen.”

For his part, Perez admitted he simply made a mistake on Friday – on top of five consecutive failures to even reach Q3 recently.

“It’s nothing different from what could happen to any driver on the grid,” he told DAZN in Hungary. “We all have good and bad moments.”

Red Bull might be better off sacking Sergio Perez immediately after he crashed again in Practice 1 for the Hungarian GP, thereby revealing Red Bull’s latest floor upgrades.

Photos immediately appeared online of the Red Bull floor after today’s crash, and team boss Christian Horner could be seen on the pit wall looking totally disgusted.

Perez crashed in Turn 1 at Monaco in May, and many online photos revealed all of Red Bull’s floor secrets to its competitors.

In the garage, watching the monitors, Dr. Helmut Marko looked disgusted with Perez as he is ruining the team’s advantages.

Marko is known for sacking drivers immediately if he does not feel they are performing.

Not only is Perez not performing of late, he is also giving away all the team secrets every time he runs out of talent and crashes.

This trip to the tires just about puts an end to Perez’s time at Red Bull when his contract is up, or maybe sooner, as Red Bull could pay him to sit at home and tend to his garden.

If Daniel Ricciardo performs well this weekend at the Hungaroring, Marko might call him up from the AlphaTauri team to replace Perez sooner rather than later.