Red Bull prepare drastic Sergio Perez measure after F1 future meeting – report

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

In a bid to get Sergio Perez back to the form required if they are to hold on to the Constructors’ title, Red Bull is reportedly considering reverting to the early-season RB20 spec for Perez.

Perez’s future at Red Bull came under serious threat going into the summer break after an alarming slump in form, the Mexican without a podium finish since April’s Chinese Grand Prix and down to P7 in the Drivers’ Championship at the point that Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko and team principal Christian Horner met to discuss the dilemma.

Sergio Perez to return to old-spec Red Bull RB20?

Red Bull opted though to keep Perez alongside Max Verstappen after the summer break, but with their Formula 1 dominance over and McLaren having slashed their Constructors’ Championship lead to 42 points, Red Bull need Perez to significantly up his game if they are to secure a third consecutive Constructors’ title.

And as per ESPN, Red Bull are considering – as a method of bringing Perez back to form – returning to the early-season RB20 spec on his side of the garage, despite now being 14 rounds deep into the F1 2024 season.

However, such a move could be seen as logical, considering that it was during the early rounds when Perez’s form was at its strongest, having claimed three P2 finishes across the opening four races, followed by that most recent podium in China.

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Marko said the team has faith that the Perez situation can be turned around and suggested not all the responsibility is on Perez’s shoulders if that is to be achieved, claiming that Red Bull must also make the RB20 an easier car to drive.

“We believe that we can turn it round and make it more stable for him,” Marko told ESPN.

“To be team-mate to Max is not the nicest thing in Formula 1. Checo has his merits, he’s won races.

“Our discussion was not just about drivers, it was regular discussions we had of what can we do to improve the situation? We have to try to make the car more easy to drive.

“The more difficult the car is to drive, the more the difference to Max comes out because he’s such an outstanding talent. If the rear steps out he won’t lift the throttle, he’s just, ‘yeah, it’s a little bit nervous’, Checo says ‘it’s difficult’ or ‘its undriveable.’

“So to be next to Max is a different story. So we said let’s try to make the car more easy to drive, get more balance, which is also something Max wants, and the best thing is to keep going with Checo and hope that he… the main problem was this up and down.

“He had some very good results, very good performances, then the next day he was half a second off Max or so.”

While the fight is on in the Constructors’, Verstappen still holds a very healthy lead of 78 points over McLaren’s Lando Norris at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

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