Like in 2023, Sergio Perez‘s descent seems to have begun after the opening few weekends of 2024. His ‘number 2′ role no longer makes sense for Red Bull, as the 34-year-old driver is unable to fend off Ferrari and McLaren from Max Verstappen. This has also dented their chance to win the Constructors’ Championship. While he fumbles, Carlos Sainz is a free agent waiting to pounce on that 2025 Red Bull seat for a much-awaited reunion. Former race winner Ralf Schumacher has now intensified the possibility of this switch.

Red Bull’s Adrian Newey-created cars have been far superior to Ferrari’s in the ground-effect era. Yet, Sainz and Perez are level on the number of race wins since the beginning of 2023 until now: 2. Because the Mexican racer is very inconsistent, Red Bull is risking their constructors’ championship and losing millions of dollars for finishing lower in the standings. This is the leverage that Sainz could use to wiggle his way into the Milton Keynes outfit on his terms.

“The question is who will spend a year next to Verstappen in 2025,” Ralf Schumacher said, as quoted by F1maximaal. “If I were Carlos Sainz, I would take on that challenge,” he added, before highlighting what the Spaniard could offer that Perez no longer seems able to. “I don’t find the situation with Pérez reassuring for several reasons. The number one in the team is clear. The number two must be able to cover the number one, as happened with Ferrari and McLaren in Monaco.”

Perez’s Q1 elimination at Monaco was a rude shock for Red Bull. On the other hand, Sainz displayed his team-playing skills over the team radio by suggesting how Ferrari could protect his teammate Charles Leclerc’s race lead from McLaren. Such instances have also led former Haas boss Guenther Steiner to question Red Bull’s assessment of their driver line-up.

Guenther Steiner questions Red Bull’s absurd decision to retain Sergio Perez

Despite Sergio Perez’s struggles in 2023, Team Principal Christian Horner and Team Advisor Helmut Marko were vocally supportive of him. But with rivals getting much closer to Red Bull this year, their backing of the Guadalajara-born racer can only go so far. And for one of F1’s most dominant teams ever, Guenther Steiner reckons that the Red Bull seat deserves a better driver.

“It’s one of those questions I ask myself sometimes,” Steiner said on the Red Flags podcast. “It’s like why don’t you (Red Bull) give another guy a chance, you know? I mean Tsunoda is doing a fantastic job in the RB team. He’s doing a fantastic job there. Now it looks like Perez is renewed for next year, but you’ve got options out there like Sainz. Albon was out there but now obviously he’s not out there because he signed for Williams. But it’s one of those things. I don’t really know,” he concluded, still baffled.

Perez surprisingly stands at P5 in the drivers’ standings despite having the best machinery under him. With both Ferrari drivers and McLaren’s Lando Norris ahead of him, the Red Bull driver now fights for survival in F1.