At the moment, a massive axe is hanging over Sergio Perez’s head which might sever his contract with Red Bull, and send him to its sister squad VCARB. While his teammate Max Verstappen has gone on to win multiple Grands Prix this season, the Mexican has failed to live up to the competition. In the last 5 races, Checo has scored 15 Championship points as opposed to Verstappen’s 101 points. This stark difference between the RBR racers points towards just one fact – Perez will lose his seat to a replacement, perhaps Daniel Ricciardo or Carlos Sainz.

At the end of this current season, Carlos Sainz will lose his Ferrari contract while Daniel Ricciardo might not continue with VCARB. Between the two racers, they have won 11 Grands Prix. Both have been Red Bull junior drivers and are accustomed to the Austrian team’s ways. They would both make great pairs with Max Verstappen, in theory. Sainz and Max Verstappen were already partners at Toro Rosso (the former name of VCARB) towards the beginning of their careers.

As per Auto-Motor-und-Sport, Sainz will not team up with Verstappen ever again ‘due to old upheavals at Toro Rosso’. But, Daniel Ricciardo is still interested. When the Honey Badger exited McLaren last year and joined Red Bull as a reserve driver, he had already declared his wish to take up a regular racing seat at the Milton-Keynes team. With Sergio Perez’s declining performance and Sainz’s disinterest in forming a team with Max Verstappen, it seems the coast is clear for Ricciardo to join Red Bull for a second time.

Speaking about the chances of Perez getting replaced soon, RBR Chief Advisor Helmut Marko said to AMuS, “We will know more during the summer holidays.” Even Christian Horner, the Team Principal of Red Bull, has acknowledged the difficulties Checo seems to be facing with his RB20 right now. He commented, “Sergio’s had a tough spell, and his first five races were very competitive, his last five have been nowhere, and we want to see Sergio from the first five back. He knows that. He’s aware of that and he’s been working hard on that.”

There is no doubt that Sergio Perez’s underwhelming performances have not gone unnoticed by his recruits at the Red Bull headquarters. But the question that arises is how patient Marko, Horner, and the other authorities will be with Checo before they decide to demote the 34-year-old despite signing a new contract with him earlier this year.

Does Red Bull regret extending Sergio Perez’s contract?

On June 4, Red Bull came out with the announcement that they have re-signed Sergio Perez for two more years with a 1+1 contract. However, pundits claim the team must have included a performance clause in the new deal with Checo. This would allow them to demote him to VCARB or let him go in case the Mexican fails to match Max Verstappen on the race tracks.

Till now, the odds have been against Perez as he has suffered some DNFs and a few underwhelming Grand Prix finishes. Thus, Martin Brundle directly asked Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner if he regrets re-signing Perez now. Hit with a question too tough to answer, Horner elaborated on his team’s situation with Perez. The Briton said, “That’s a brutally hard question, Martin. But, of course, the point that you sign a driver, the contents of any agreement are not going to be disclosed to all of you lot. So it made absolute sense to sign Checo at that point in time,”

“But this is a business in which there are pressures to deliver. We thought the contract would help. I think it’s something that Checo is working very hard on, and he knows this is a sport where there’s no hiding,” Horner added.

Horner’s ominous end to the answer perhaps shows that once Red Bull decides to drop Perez, there would be ‘no hiding’ for him from that unfortunate situation. However, all of this would bode well for Daniel Ricciardo as he can finally take up the seat he has been hoping for.

Speaking of Ricciardo, the Australian has not exactly seen great scores in this season either. While he did not suffer DNFs like Perez did, he has finished multiple races outside of the points. That is why the Perth native now has only 11 Championship points to his name.

The Red Bull seat will perhaps tap into his full potential and he will perform much better than Perez to help the team win another World Championship. Do you think it would be wise of the Austrian outfit to swap Perez with Ricciardo? Let us know in the comments below.