Does Crimson Bull have a Sergio Pérez drawback?
That could be the query on many minds as System 1 heads right into a much-deserved bye week. A European triple-header that took the grid from Barcelona to Austria after which Silverstone has seen Crimson Bull’s second driver wrestle, and the group’s rivals inch nearer to them atop the Constructors’ Championship standings.
Silverstone was per week to overlook for the Crimson Bull driver, as he slid into the gravel throughout Q1 on Saturday and noticed his qualifying session finish there. He started the British Grand Prix in the back of the sector and couldn’t make any progress into the factors, ending Seventeenth.
However Silverstone is only one piece to his present puzzle of struggles.
Pérez has not delivered a podium end for the reason that Chinese language Grand Prix again in April, and his finest Grand Prix outcome since then got here on the following race in Miami when he completed fourth on the Miami Grand Prix. Since then he has completed eighth at each the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and the Spanish Grand Prix, seventh on the Austrian Grand Prix (together with an eighth-place end within the F1 Dash Race at Crimson Bull Ring), after which his Seventeenth-place end on Sunday.
He additionally has a pair of DNFs over that stretch, in each Monaco and Montreal.
Tally up all of the factors from this stretch (beginning with Imola), and Pérez has added simply 15 factors to his account. Over that very same stretch here’s what a few of Crimson Bull’s rival drivers have achieved:
Lando Norris: 88 factors
Oscar Piastri: 83 factors
Lewis Hamilton: 83 factors
George Russell: 67 factors
Carlos Sainz Jr.: 63 factors
Charles Leclerc: 42 factors
If that was not dangerous sufficient, over that very same stretch Nico Hülkenberg at Haas has outscored Pérez, 16 to fifteen.
If this have been 2023 it may not be an issue for Crimson Bull. However that is definitely not 2023 within the F1 world. With the conclusion of Sunday’s British Grand Prix, we’ve reached the midway level of the 2024 season, so it’s value pausing to have a look at simply how a lot has modified from yr to yr.
Standings on the midway level (11 races) final yr:
Crimson Bull: 452
Mercedes: 223
Aston Martin: 184
Ferrari: 167
McLaren: 87
Standings on the midway level (12 races) this yr:
Crimson Bull: 373
Ferrari: 302
McLaren: 295
Mercedes: 221
Aston Martin: 68
A season in the past Crimson Bull was miles forward of the competitors, actually and figuratively. The RB19 was far and away the dominant package deal on the grid, and regardless of the same mid-season swoon from Pérez final yr — he added simply 51 factors over a five-race stretch from Monaco to Silverstone — Crimson Bull was nonetheless capable of construct that commanding lead within the Constructors’ Championship.
How?
As a result of Max Verstappen gained each single Grand Prix throughout that stretch.
Nevertheless, as already said this yr is completely different. Throughout Pérez’s present downturn, Verstappen has gained thrice, completed second as soon as (Sunday at Silverstone), and completed off the rostrum in two different Grands Prix. In the meantime, Charles Leclerc gained in Monaco, George Russell in Austria, after which Lewis Hamilton Sunday on the British Grand Prix.
That accounts largely for the distinction within the standings from the midway level in 2023, and the present state of play within the Constructors’ Championship. As one would possibly say, it’s actually “sport on” on the sharp finish of the grid.
Final yr Crimson Bull might overcome a swoon like this, however 2024 is a a lot completely different story, one which Crimson Bull Crew Principal Christian Horner described as “unsustainable” following the British Grand Prix.
“[Pérez] is aware of it’s unsustainable to not be scoring factors – we’ve to be scoring factors in that automotive, and he is aware of that,” mentioned Horner after the British Grand Prix. “He is aware of his position and his goal, so no one is extra keen than Checo to search out his kind once more.
“It’s one thing we’re conscious about, that to win the Constructors’ Championship you want each automobiles scoring.”
Pérez entered the 2024 season dealing with an expiring contract and rampant hypothesis about his F1 future. Crimson Bull thought they ended that hypothesis early within the season, saying forward of the Canadian Grand Prix a brand new long-term contract with the motive force that might hold him in his present seat by the 2026 season.
However this present downturn has solely seen rumors about his job safety spin again into gear.
“In fact there’s frustration when each of your automobiles aren’t performing collectively, and I believe it was irritating to lose Checo in Q1 yesterday,” added Horner on Sunday. “He’d missed P1 due to Isack Hadjar driving, he’d had an honest P2, however he ought to have been across the prime six, and to lose that automotive in Q1 was very irritating so, yeah, that’s the place we’re at.”
There’s some hope on the horizon for Pérez, because the group will set up a brand new flooring on his RB20, one which Verstappen utilized in Sunday’s British Grand Prix. Past that, the subsequent 4 stops have been fertile floor for the Crimson Bull driver prior to now. Final yr Pérez completed third within the Hungarian Grand Prix, the subsequent cease on the F1 calendar. He then completed second at Spa, and after a fourth-place end within the Dutch Grand Prix, he got here again to once more end second to Verstappen at Imola.
These information could present some solace, however there isn’t a denying that Pérez is underneath stress to show issues round.
“Checo, in fact, he’s underneath stress – that’s regular in System 1 – however if you’re underdelivering, that stress solely mounts, and he’s conscious of that,” added Horner on Sunday. “He is aware of that.”
Pérez was capable of flip issues round final yr, and it helped him earn a brand new deal at Crimson Bull. The same turnaround is not going to solely assist him hold that deal however maybe assist Crimson Bull fend off a pack of rivals which are closing in.
Quick.
