Home Sport Sergio Perez told to ‘sort this out’ after ‘usual’ race which Helmut Marko ‘doesn’t like’

Sergio Perez told to ‘sort this out’ after ‘usual’ race which Helmut Marko ‘doesn’t like’

Sport — 04/09/2024 · 0 Comment

Sergio Perez has got to “sort out” his habit of fading in the second half of races, with the Red Bull driver’s worrying F1 2024 trend under close scrutiny from Helmut Marko.

That is the claim of Sky F1 reporter Ted Kravitz, who has accused Perez of falling back as “usual” as last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix unfolded.

Sergio Perez trend under Helmut Marko microscope

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Despite signing a new two-year contract as recently as June, Perez found his Red Bull seat in jeopardy ahead of the summer break after a desperate run of from.

Red Bull seemed set to drop him in the aftermath of July’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, where Marko said Perez had “completely collapsed” in the second half of the race as he fell from second on the grid to eighth at the chequered flag (the post-race disqualification of George Russell promoted him to seventh in the official classification).

However, team principal Christian Horner confirmed 24 hours later that Perez would remain in place entering the second half of the season.

With Red Bull’s lead over McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship reduced to just eight points following the Italian GP, it remains to be seen if the situation will be revisited as the final eight races of F1 2024 develop.

Perez’s form has tentatively improved since the season resumed at last month’s Dutch Grand Prix, with the Mexican driver qualifying inside the top eight at Zandvoort and Monza.

Yet Kravitz believes Perez’s familiar frailties were on display in Italy, where he finished a distant eighth, 17 seconds adrift of team-mate Max Verstappen in sixth place.

Appearing on Sky F1, Kravitz said: “Sergio Perez had a race-long fight with George Russell, which he lost eventually.

“Sergio Perez did the usual Sergio Perez second half of the race fall back, which Helmut Marko doesn’t like.

“I’m sure Sergio doesn’t like it either, but he’s got to sort this out because he was only eighth.”

Kravitz’s comments come after Perez revealed his wish that his deficit to Verstappen was “a lot bigger” as that would mean Red Bull’s mid-season slump was over.

Perez told media including PlanetF1.com: “I wish the gap was a lot bigger and that Max was winning, because at the end that will only help the team and in the Constructors’ especially.

“We’ve got some a lot of work to do to fix this issue and hopefully in the next few races can be better for us.”

Verstappen has failed to win any of the last six races stretching back to the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23, with the three-time World Champion nursing a 62-point advantage over Lando Norris with eight races remaining.

Red Bull’s poor form prompted Verstappen to claim after the race that both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ title is at risk as it stands, with the RB20 car currently a “monster.”

He told media including PlanetF1.com: “At the moment, both championships are not realistic.

“I think I gave everything that I could today. We have to turn it around and it’s not easy to do that very quickly, and then if we can put that on the car, then it becomes more driveable.”

“I’ve said a lot and now it’s up to the team to come with a lot of changes with the car, because we basically went from a very dominant car to an undriveable car in the space of six to eight months.

“So that is very weird for me and we need to really turn the car upside down.”