Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko caused quite a stir in the media over the last few days with his comments regarding the performance over their current driver Sergio Perez, and speculation over whether the Mexican would remain at the team next year has mounted.
Marko claimed he was “not satisfied” with Perez, who currently sits 83 points behind his team mate Max Verstappen. However, team boss Christian Horner has responded to the comments when speaking to Motorsport.com and hinted whether the driver line up would change in 2022.
Red Bull are notorious for their revolving door policy on drivers with Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Daniil Kvyat also falling victim to being booted out of the team. The harsh reality is that the team have struggled to find a team mate who can haul in the points and match their star driver Max Verstappen. Perez has been the closest contender since Daniel Ricciardo left the team at the end of 2018 and it seems Horner is keen for him to stay.
Image Credit: Getty Images /Red Bull
“I think Sergio has delivered the role that we’ve been hoping for,” said Horner. “You saw that in Baku when he picked up a victory on the day that he was able to put Lewis under pressure. He’s been collecting those constructors’ points, and playing the team game, as we saw at the French GP. He’s a great team player and we’re very happy with the job he’s doing.”
Since Gasly was demoted back to their junior team Alpha Tauri, he has had a much needed boost in confidence and has been performing well alongside rookie Yuki Tsunoda. Speculation has mounted recently about a return to the top team for the Frenchman, but Horner seems pleased with the current driver line up at both teams.
“Our view has always been to give youth the chance and I think Red Bull, more than any other team, has done that,” he added. “But occasionally, you need to step out of the programme. I think it was a brave decision to do that, but I think it was the right decision. The dynamic in the team is working well. Pierre is doing a fantastic job at AlphaTauri, and is still very much a Red Bull racing driver, so we’re in a good place.”
An announcement from Red Bull regarding their driver line up is expected at the Belgian Grand Prix next weekend.
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