The Perez Crisis
It’s no mystery that Sergio Perez, after a promising start to the season that had given him two victories in the first four races of 2023, faced aobvious drop in yield. Only two podiums in the last seven rounds of the world championship, accompanied by no less than five consecutive top 10 finishes in qualifying, had set off a clear alarm bell about the future of the expert Mexican driver, evidently not exactly at ease at the wheel of the RB19. However, the recent Belgian Grand Prix, which he finished in second place, had brought Perez’s prices back up, and he set himself the goal of finishing in second place in the drivers’ championship and giving Red Bull the first one-two in history at the end of the season. The ranking is currently reassuring, given that Fernando Alonso is 40 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton by 41 and the pair formed by Charles Leclerc and George Russell by 90.
Ricciardo’s ghost
Before the break, Red Bull brought back the family Daniel Ricciardogiving him the wheel in Alpha Tauri, also to stimulate Perez to improve, although publicly no one has questioned the Mexican’s near future, linked with a contract that is also valid for the entire 2024 season.
In Hungary Ricciardo managed to immediately get behind his teammate Yuki Tsunoda both in qualifying and in the race, but he was unable to repeat himself in Belgium, where the Japanese preceded his colleague both on Saturday and on Sunday.
The indiscretion: the meeting between Ricciardo and Marko
The Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung told of one dinner staged during the summer break between Daniel Ricciardo and Helmut Marko. In fact, the Australian spent his holidays with his girlfriend Heidi Berger (daughter of former driver Gerhard) at the Stanglwirt in Kitzbühel, then making a trip to Graz for an evening with the Red Bull consultant.
“Yes, we have met. But that’s a normal thing when you come to Graz“, he said Marko without embarrassment, continuing to praise the pilot: “He has a very positive personality, a successful career and an incredible track record. His grit and verve gave Alpha Tauri a real jolt. He was a real motivator. We will bring an important update on the car and see if the direction is right, hopefully they can finish in the points soon. Naturally a rider like Ricciardo helps you enormously in this situation. He tells you exactly what works and what doesn’t”.
Is Perez’s future at risk again? “In Formula 1 it certainly doesn’t exist 100%. Somewhere there are always performance related situations to talk about. In Zandvoort we will take a look at the situation and discuss how to proceed. We’ll know more later.”explained Marko with statements that were anything but reassuring for the 33-year-old driver from Guadalajara.
In fact, the words of encouragement for Perez on his goal of second place in the world seemed anything but warm: “Our biggest advantage is that the pursuers are always alternating. Which automatically makes us look stronger and increases Checo’s chances.”
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