If there’s one driver whose qualifying performances have stood out for the wrong reasons this season, it’s Sergio Perez. In the 11 race weekends so far, the Red Bull driver—in the fastest car on the grid—has failed to reach the top-10 shootout in qualifying 5 times. But, more often than not, he’s made up for his qualifying errors during the race. And if there’s one driver whose qualifying performances have stood out for the right reasons, it’s Perez’s former Force India teammate, Nico Hulkenberg. Out of the 11 races, the German—in arguably one of the slowest cars on the grid—has made it to Q3 on six occasions, even qualifying second at the Canadian GP. If only there were a way to combine both their strengths. Well, Helmut Marko might’ve found one.

In the past few weeks, speculations have linked Hulkenberg to the seat alongside Max Verstappen. As surprising as that is, it’s not the first time the German has been linked to Red Bull. When the seat was up for the taking after 2020, Hulkenberg—Racing Point’s reserve driver then—was one of the contenders alongside Checo. And although Checo’s fight from the back of the grid to win the 2020 Sakhir GP might’ve tipped Red Bull in his favor, Hulkenberg’s qualifying performances haven’t been lost on the Milton-Keynes team.

Considering the statistics, when Helmut Marko was asked about Hulkenberg’s links to Red Bull during the Belgian GP weekend, he winked and said, “Let’s put it that way. We’ll get him [Nico Hulkenberg] for qualifying, and Perez will then drive the race.” With Red Bull being faster than Haas, you would think Perez—despite his bad qualifying form—would’ve out-qualified Hulkenberg most weekends. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), that’s not the case.

The German has out-qualified Perez in 6 races. And if you compare their time together as teammates in Force India, Hulkenberg started ahead of Perez on 35 of the 59 races. But when it came to the race results, Perez finished ahead on 32 occasions.

That could be a solid pairing driving for the same car, maybe even strong enough to challenge Verstappen. While that isn’t an actual possibility, the chances of Checo getting replaced might increase despite Marko’s safety reassurances.

Read More: “Daniel Made a Mistake”: Amid Speculations of Sergio Perez’s Sacking, Ex-F1 Champ Names the Biggest Hiccup in Ricciardo’s “Fairytale” Ending

Sergio Perez needs to be wary of Daniel Ricciardo’s threat

Perez is contracted to drive for Red Bull till the end of the 2024 season. But owing to his recent bad run of form, there have been questions about his safety, especially after AlphaTauri announced Daniel Ricciardo as Nyck De Vries’ replacement. With Ricciardo making his F1 return at the Hungarian GP, Perez would’ve wanted to have a smooth weekend, considering the Aussie is gunning for his seat. But that didn’t happen, and F1 journalist Juan Fossaroli gave his opinions on Perez’s future at Red Bull.

He said, “We know what contracts are in Formula 1. Checo knows very well, you know, with McLaren and with Force India—or Racing Point, in that case. He has to think and perform, forget about Daniel because, I think, it’s the way Red Bull somehow operates. Putting pressure all the time, they do that. But obviously, if I’m Checo, I will think that Daniel is a menace for my seat.” Needless to say, if Perez doesn’t return to the form he had at the beginning of the season, Daniel Ricciardo (or Nico Hulkenberg, perhaps) might just replace him.

Do you think Red Bull is actually considering Nico Hulkenberg for Perez’s seat?

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