Sergio Perez has been outscored by eight drivers over the last six races.
Despite driving perhaps the quickest car in F1 in 2024, Sergio Perez’s last six races have seen him outscored by drivers in far less impressive machinery.
The Mexican driver recently signed a new two-year deal with Red Bull that is supposed to keep him with the Milton Keynes-based squad until the end of 2026, but his recent form has been labelled as “unsustainable” by Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.
Sergio Perez is outscored by all the main players… and a Haas
Perez scored 103 points from the first six races up to the Miami Grand Prix, a more than respectable start to the year that netted him a strong second place in the Drivers’ Championship with four podiums and two points finishes.
But, heading back for the start of the European season at Imola, all eyes were on the Mexican to see whether he could avoid a repeat of last year’s summer slump having turned his performance around over the winter.
However, if anything, Perez’s performances have been even more disappointing compared to last year. While the Red Bull RB20 no longer enjoys a clear advantage over the likes of McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes, with Verstappen ‘only’ winning three of the six races (including Imola) to go alongside a podium and two points finishes, Perez has only three low points finishes, two retirements, and a 17th place to his name from those same rounds.
As a result, Perez has slumped to sixth place in the standings and has both Mercedes drivers breathing down his neck less than 10 points behind – despite the W15’s slow start to the year.
But a more in-depth look at the points scorings since Imola makes for startling reading. Verstappen has scored 119 points in the last six races, just 17 points less than the 136 points he scored in the first six races of the year.
Lando Norris is second-highest as the McLaren driver has scored 88 points, Lewis Hamilton has brought home 83 for Mercedes – the same points scored by Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren – while George Russell has scored 74.
Indeed, one has to look down the list to ninth place to find Sergio Perez. The Red Bull driver has scored just 15 points from the last six races, meaning he’s been outscored by every driver in a leading car – both McLarens, both Mercedes, both Ferraris, and Max Verstappen have all eclipsed Perez’s total.
But while being outscored by his expected rivals might be a scenario Red Bull can handle, there’s another driver who has outscored Perez – and it’s a driver very much not in a leading car. Hero of the midfield, Nico Hulkenberg has hauled his Haas to some stellar results recently and, with two sixth places in the last two races, has outscored Perez by a point over the past six races.
Even worse for Perez, the Mexican driver is just a solitary point ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll – the AMR24 has proven a grumpy and tricky car to unlock this year and results have proven far more difficult to come by for the team occupying fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.
1. Max Verstappen Red Bull 119 points
2. Lando Norris McLaren 88 points
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 83 points
4. Oscar Piastri McLaren 83 points
5. George Russell Mercedes 74 points
6. Carlos Sainz Ferrari 63 points
7. Charles Leclerc Ferrari 52 points
8. Nico Hulkenberg Haas 16 points
9. Sergio Perez Red Bull 15 points
10. Lance Stroll Aston Martin 14 points
Christian Horner: Sergio Perez not scoring points is ‘unsustainable’
Hints have emerged recently that a change may be being considered behind the scenes at Red Bull, with Christian Horner evaluating whether or not to pull the trigger on a driver swap – perhaps for RB race driver Daniel Ricciardo, returning to the seat he vacated at the end of 2018, or putting Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson into the seat.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has dropped ambiguous statements hinting at a possible change around the summer break, while PlanetF1.com’s understanding is that Liam Lawson’s filming day at Silverstone earlier this week was also used to gather data on the Kiwi’s speed. PlanetF1.com’s understanding of the situation is that Perez must be within 100 points of Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship by the summer break in order to be irremovable – the gap is currently 137 points.
With Red Bull facing genuine danger in the Constructors’ Championship for the first time in the ground-effect era, Horner was firm in his assessment as he spoke to the media following the British Grand Prix.
“[Perez] knows it’s unsustainable to not be scoring points,” Horner told media including PlanetF1.com after the race at Silverstone.
“We have to be scoring points in that car.
“He knows his role and target. Nobody is more eager than Checo to find his form again.”
The next two races, which may prove crucial if Perez is to save his Red Bull career, has the Mexican chomping at the bit to salvage the situation.
“I know where I am in terms of contract and that sort of thing,” Perez said to media after the British GP. “I cannot let it be a distraction.
“I need to focus on the next two weekends, which are the priority, and together as a team, to get out of this difficult period.”
