A possible ousting from Red Bull is breathing down Sergio Perez’s neck now. The Mexican, after entering the Austrian outfit in 2021, played a huge role in helping Max Verstappen win his debut Championship title that year. However, Perez’s performance has seen a steady decline over the years. With the reigning World Champion as his teammate, Checo has failed to get to the top of the tables even though he drives the same Red Bull car as Max. And recently, his results have hit an all-time low in the 2024 season. In the last 5 races, Perez has only scored 11 points whereas Verstappen has scored 94 points.

The obvious difference between the two Red Bull recruits is now affecting the Milton-Keynes team’s ’24 Championship campaign. With rivals like McLaren and Mercedes closing in, Christian Horner is aware that his team needs both its racers to score equally well so that RBR remains in the lead. However, Perez could not score any points at the recently-held British GP, increasing concerns about his performance. Horner himself claimed it is ‘unsustainable’ for Red Bull to keep Checo under its wing when he is failing to bring results at almost every race weekend.

Now, being the Championship-leading team, Red Bull has no dearth of choices of racers to replace Perez. But the 34-year-old has signed a new contract earlier this year which allows him to stay on till 2026. In this case, the performance clause in Checo’s contract can be activated to oust him from his squad. Speaking on this, ex-Red Bull racer Robert Doonbos told Marca, “It seems to me that as a team leader, you say: we are going to activate the clauses that we put in the contract. I think they have given him enough time and that now they should take real action because for Red Bull it is also very important to win the Constructors’ Championship.”

Doonbos’ strict words call for his former team to take a stand against Checo since the Mexican is becoming the Achilles heel for the Championship-winning squad. By replacing the 34-year-old with an able driver who matches Verstappen’s speed, Red Bull can move ahead with their 2024 campaign. So, who are the drivers whom Doonbos wants to see in the seat beside Max Verstappen at RBR right now?

Ex-F1 driver snubs Ricciardo while naming Sergio Perez’s replacement

Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson has been waiting for a chance to join F1 since 2019. The former F2 podium-holder will get a test drive with the RB20 racecar later this week. Now, there have been speculations that Lawson’s test is significant because Red Bull might pick him to replace Sergio Perez just like they had replaced Nyck deVries at AlphaTauri with Daniel Ricciardo after the Honey Badger’s test drive in Silverstone last year. Now, Robert Doonbos believes Lawson deserves Perez’s seat if he can put up a good performance at his much-anticipated test drive.

Speaking on who might replace Checo at Red Bull, Doonbos said, “I would choose Liam Lawson. If you do a good test with the RB20 at Silverstone on Thursday: take it up! Or give Yuki a chance at Red Bull, which would be very good for Honda.” Yuki, being Japanese, is a driver whom Honda (Red Bull’s engine sponsor from Japan) prefers. Thus, the ex-F1 driver has claimed that taking up Yuki might get Red Bull good results and can also help them appease their engine sponsor. However, that would mean the team will need to demote Checo to their sister squad VCARB to take up Tsunoda’s place.

Even though Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda are the two names Robert Doonbos offered as replacements for Checo, Daniel Ricciardo is waiting on the sidelines too. The 34-year-old has eight Grand Prix wins to his name and has experience with Red Bull already. Do you believe Sergio Perez’s time has officially run out at Horner’s team, and who would you want to see replace him?