Sergio Pérez is fighting in Mexico to stay at Red Bull

For Sergio Pérez, his appearance at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City is not just the 277th Formula 1 GP of his career. For the number two at Red Bull, the home game has almost taken on state proportions. He says: “I will do everything to make my country smile on Sunday.” Pérez is racing in front of his own audience for the ninth time; his career is one of the reasons why the premier class has been back in Mexico since 2015.

When Pérez talks about how it is the biggest weekend of the year for him, and how the importance and hustle and bustle get bigger every year, it doesn’t just have to do with the enthusiasm of his compatriots. For him, the 20th World Championship round is not just about points, but also about staying at Red Bull.

Just in the season in which the world champion team was overtaken by a technical crisis, the 34-year-old’s already frequently fluctuating performances began to decline again. He says: “My year so far has been terrible. But if I get a strong result, it can change my season again.”

Despite his experience, Pérez is not the support he was hoping for. It’s only a slight satisfaction that his colleague Verstappen is also struggling with the lack of balance. But the world champion has adapted his driving style as best he can. In the title fight against Lando Norris, the Dutchman even made up ground with a victory in the Austin sprint and a third place in the race.

Team boss Horner is putting pressure on

Pérez also fought in Texas, but at a different level. On Saturday he remained without a point, on Sunday he finished distant in seventh place. As a one-man show, Red Bull will probably lose its constructors’ title because the driver pairing at McLaren and Ferrari is stronger. “Now is the moment when Pérez has to come into play,” says team boss Christian Horner. The pressure could not be greater, even if the final consequences have not yet been announced.

Pérez, whose contract was extended prematurely and probably prematurely during the personnel crisis at Red Bull in the summer, has become accustomed to the speculation about an expulsion. The new contract runs for two years, but there should be a performance clause. Horner and team advisor Helmut Marko are now finding it difficult to support the stumbling Mexican. The latest rumor is therefore appropriate for the management team: In Texas, many voices were raised that Pérez could announce his resignation after the Mexican Grand Prix.

Pérez vehemently denies this option and tries to counter the propaganda with a video clip on social networks in which the actor Leonardo DiCaprio in his role as “Wolf of Wall Street” shouts to his employees: “I’m not fucking leaving!” He made the statement on his own behalf so that his fans wouldn’t be misled, says Pérez: “I just want to make it clear that I will be here one hundred percent next year.”

Will the New Zealander Lawson replace the stumbling Pérez?

Given the current performance, that seems questionable. In the World Cup standings, Pérez is only in eighth place with 150 points, while leader Verstappen has so far scored 204 points more. Pérez last won a year and a half ago and the last time he was on the podium this season was in April. This also puts pressure on the ego of someone who seems used to suffering.

This makes the consultant Marko, who is powerful in personnel matters, thoughtful. “Inconsistency is the problem for him.” The Austrian has not made any real denials about the resignation rumors. A resignation would be the most elegant solution for Red Bull. The team has already tried in all possible ways to free Pérez from the mental and sporting crisis. After all, his work contributed to Verstappen becoming world champion in 2021. But no one was really grateful afterwards.

The events surrounding Red Bull are unlikely to have a reassuring effect on Pérez. The latest means of pressure is Liam Lawson. The New Zealander drove his first Grand Prix in Austin as the successor to Daniel Ricciardo in the second team Racing Bulls. The 22-year-old made it to ninth place straight away, even though he had to start from the back due to an engine penalty. Talent scout Marko celebrates this as a personal success and promptly predicts: “This shows again that you have to give young people a chance.”

The Red Bull management consciously took the risk, with a view to the second cockpit in the group’s top team. Lawson has talent and apparently also assertiveness. He immediately took on the old master Fernando Alonso, who will be contesting his 400th Grand Prix this weekend. This aggressiveness does not diminish the good impression he makes on his bosses. Marko attested that the young driver had an “impeccable performance” and that Lawson had everything under control at all times.

24-year-old Yuki Tsunoda, who has been hoping for promotion from the talent pool to Red Bull for four years and is supported by engine partner Honda, would also be a candidate to succeed Pérez. In order to stay in Formula 1, he would then only have one choice, and it would be more theoretical: returning to Sauber, where his career began thirteen years ago. But that would no longer be a question of pride, but rather one of desperation. Pérez tries tunnel vision: “For me it is now crucial to turn off all the noise.”