A former Formula 1 mechanic has questioned whether Sergio Perez might lose his Red Bull seat this year after the apparent collapse of his title challenge.
The Mexican began the season well, winning two of the first four races to match Max Verstappen in that regard. Even after the Dutchman's Miami masterclass – he drove from ninth to win thanks to superb tyre management – Perez was only 14 points behind his team-mate.
But his title dreams have taken a nightmarish turn in the last fortnight. A crash early in Monaco Grand Prix qualifying meant he started that race from the back of the grid and, given the nature of the tight street circuit, he wasn't able to progress to the points positions.
Things improved slightly the following weekend in Barcelona, but not by enough. He could only qualify 11th for the Spanish Grand Prix and finished fourth in the race.
He was unable to reel in George Russell quickly enough to battle for third place and was beaten by both Mercedes cars with Lewis Hamilton in second. Verstappen, meanwhile, won both races comfortably and now enjoys a 53- point lead at the top of the championship.
There may still be 15 races to go in 2023, but a genuine title challenge already looks to be slipping away from Perez with Verstappen so dominant. And, as the RB19 is currently so far ahead of the other cars on the grid in terms of performance, there is increased pressure on the 33-year-old to perform.
Marc Priestley believes the Mexican's confidence might have taken a significant hit by the outcome of the last two race weekends. And the former McLaren mechanic has even questioned whether his race seat will remain safe.
He told the BBC Chequered Flag podcast: "In qualifying, he made some mistakes. He messed up and that really set him up for the race where he started further back than he would have wanted to. Then it's a struggle in the middle of the pack – he tried to do some different things on strategy and we know how quick the car is because we saw it in the hands of Verstappen.
"With Perez, I don't know if he's lost confidence over recent weeks – there was talk of a championship fight just literally two races ago. Now people are even questioning his right to be in that car. Can he even make it to the end of the season?"
Meanwhile, Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko gave some typically blunt advice to Perez. "He needs to concentrate more on racing, not on the title," said the Austrian. "Checo is getting a relatively hard wake-up call now, but I'm sure he'll pick himself up again."
