F1 News: Sergio Perez Needs To "Show He Is Worthy Of A Seat" Amid Ongoing Red Bull Spat
F1 reporter and host of the press conferences, Tom Clarkson, has spoken out on Sergio Perez's contract with Red Bull as speculation mounts over whether the Mexican driver has done enough to keep his seat on the team.
Although Perez is in contract with the Austrian team until the end of 2024, it hasn't stopped the rumour mill about him potentially losing his seat. Red Bull has dominated the 2023 season so far, winning every race. Perez has won two out of the seven, however, the expectation of many is for Perez to come second when he doesn't win as the RB19 is so much faster than the rest of the field.
So far this season, aside from his two wins, Perez has put in two second-place finishes, a fourth, a fifth, and a sixteenth-place finish. He did also win the only sprint race of the season so far in Azerbaijan.
The issue that many a picking up on is the difference between Perez and his teammate Max Verstappen who has extended his lead in the championship by 53 points.
During the F1 Nation podcast, Clarkson evaluated Perez's position in the Red Bull team. He explained:
“I think Perez has underperformed. I think you only get to the top in elite sport – any sport – but especially Formula 1, where you have to be competitive with yourself.
"It's all about achieving at the highest level and Perez has been left wanting and that creates pressure, especially when you have drivers like Lando Norris, who have flirted with Red Bull in the past.
There have been a few names mentioned over the course of the season so far as potential replacements for Perez. As well as Norris, who is in a long contract with McLaren, Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo have also been mentioned. Clarkson continued:
“Okay, he's got a long term contract with McLaren. But there are other worthy drivers out there of that second seat at Red Bull and we've seen time and again in Formula One that driver contracts aren't worth the paper they're written on.
“You know if two parties want to do a deal, it will happen. So Perez has got to keep performing in a support role right now.
"It's a sort of nothing role now as well as he's got to keep performing to show that he's worthy of the seat, but equally he's got to be the team player as well. So it's a really frustrating second half of the season for Perez coming up.”