After the Belgian GP

Sergio Perez rages: “This is the last time …”

Sergio Perez

(Bild: APA/AFP/SIMON WOHLFAHRT)

Is that it for Sergio Perez at Red Bull? After the Belgian GP, in which the Mexican only finished eighth from second on the grid (seventh due to Russell's disqualification), he hissed at the journalists. "This is the last time I'm going to talk about the future, just to make it clear for everyone: I won't talk about it anymore, and I won't answer any more questions about the future," Perez raged.

Nerves are on edge, Sergio Perez has contested what is supposed to be his last race for Red Bull or in Formula 1 at all - at least that is the opinion of many experts and fans. The crisis summit will take place on Monday (today). Team boss Christian Horner will meet with motorsport consultant Helmut Marko and Racing Bulls managers Peter Bayer and Laurent Mekies in Milton Keyes to analyze the first half of the season and make decisions about the future of the two Red Bull teams. Among other things, whether Perez will stay. Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson are all possible successors.

This is the last time I will talk about the future, just to make it clear for everyone: I won't talk about it anymore and I won't answer any more questions about the future.

Sergio Perez tobte nach dem Belgien-GP

Once again, Perez disappointed in the race after having reason to be happy after qualifying. "Sergio had the opportunity to achieve a good result from second place. Unfortunately, that was not the case. In the last stint in particular, he completely collapsed, setting 1:48 times," was Helmut Marko's sobering conclusion on ServusTV after the end of the race. "What looked so positive in qualifying unfortunately didn't come true in the race."

Helmut Marko (left) and Sergio Perez

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Perez himself was suitably disappointed after the race: "It was a very disappointing race. It started well, but I had big problems on the straights, I don't know what was going on," said the Mexican, who repeatedly complained on the radio during the race about the car's lack of top speed: "I had to save battery very early on and was simply very weak on the straights. [...] We just weren't good with the tires today, the balance wasn't there either. So a lot to analyze."

"This is the last time..."
When asked whether he thought he would still be in the Red Bull car after the summer break, he replied: "Correct". Then Perez burst his bubble. "I've said it before: yesterday I had a good qualifying, a good day. It doesn't change anything. I think we have too much going on in the team right now and what we need to focus on. We can't waste our energy on all this speculation. This is the last time I'm going to talk about the future, just to make it clear for everyone: I won't talk about it anymore and I won't answer any more questions about the future."

It is clear that Red Bull will have to deliver much more after the summer break. Max Verstappen's fourth world championship title is not yet in the bag. "It will be a four-way battle," predicted Helmut Marko about the rest of the season, which picks up again at the end of August in Zandvoort. In addition to Red Bull, the Styrian also believes that McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari have the potential to win races. All of the aforementioned teams already have at least two victories to their name. The motorsport premier class is more unpredictable than ever before in its almost 75-year history.