Sergio Perez warned ‘can’t keep’ Red Bull seat after ‘world of difference’ deficit to Max Verstappen

Sergio Perez looking down

Mathias Lauda says Sergio Perez should not continue with Red Bull next season such is his “world of difference” deficit to Max Verstappen.

Although Red Bull handed Perez a new two-year extension after the Monaco Grand Prix, the new contract has coincided with a downturn in form from the Mexican driver.

Sergio Perez ‘can’t keep’ his race seat with deficit to Max Verstappen

While he has failed to reach the podium in the last five races, Max Verstappen has clinched four top-three results of which three were courtesy of race wins.

Extending his lead at the top of the Drivers’ standings, Verstappen has a 71-point advantage over second-placed Lando Norris. Perez is down in fifth place where he’s 115 points behind his team-mate.

That deficit is expected to grow at the Red Bull Ring as Verstappen, who will line up on pole position, is the big favourite to take the victory. As for Perez, who was 0.888s slower than Verstappen in Q3, that leaves him down in eighth place on the grid.

It’s a gap that Lauda, the son the late Niki Lauda, says in any other series would see a driver lose his race seat.

“The stopwatch at the end doesn’t lie,” the Austrian told ServusTV. “In Formula 1, the best drivers on the market should drive.

“And at Red Bull, who have had the best car for the last three years, you expect to have a driver who can keep up with the number 1 driver.

“If he’s two or three-tenths behind, that’s completely fine. But one second, on such a short track, is a world of difference.

“I was also in motorsport for a long time, certainly not as successful as Perez, but the golden rule was, if you are one second away from your team-mate, then you can’t keep it [your race seat].

“No matter which championship you are driving in, whether DTM or Sports Car World Championship or Formula 2, if you are one second away from your own team-mate, the place is gone next year.”

More on Sergio Perez’s Red Bull struggles

👉Martin Brundle’s damning ‘also-rans’ verdict if Red Bull had ‘two Sergio Perezs’

👉Austrian GP predictions: Piastri’s podium chances, Mercedes to beat Ferrari and Haas in the points

Christian Horner defends Sergio Perez’s early extension

Perez’s struggles have led to questions about whether Red Bull were too quick to re-sign him and should’ve rather waited to see how his season panned as a whole.

That was put to team boss Christian Horner by Sky Sports after Saturday’s qualifying.

He replied: “Checo’s position within the team, what he has contributed to the team, warranted that.

“But, of course, there’s always pressure to perform and that is irrelevant of contracts, which we’re obviously never going to go into the detail of.

“Checo knows it’s a pressure business, and he knows the scrutiny that there is, particularly in a car that’s winning a lot of races and performing with the other driver the way it is.

“So that’s Formula 1, and that pressure just naturally exists on any team-mate that is under-delivering. The media start asking questions, and it’s very easy to lose your head at that.

“Now, what I’ve been impressed with Checo over the last four years is that whenever the pressure is really been on, and it’s on at the moment, he’s always been able to bounce back, and he’s going to need to dig deep to do that.”