Helmut Marko’s damning Sergio Perez verdict as Red Bull meeting begins

Sergio Perez walks away from his Red Bull RB20

Helmut Marko didn’t mince his words as he gave a rather telling “we will” response when asked if Red Bull will discuss Sergio Perez’s future this week.

Perez may have contested his last grand prix as a Red Bull driver in Belgium on Sunday after the under-fire driver failed to shine despite inheriting a front row grid slot courtesy of his team-mate Max Verstappen’s grid penalty.

Helmut Marko’s blunt ‘we will’ to Sergio Perez discussion question

Starting the race from second on the grid, Christian Horner has revealed a podium was the “objective” for Perez but he failed to deliver as he finished P7.

Even more worryingly for the Mexican driver, he started nine places ahead of Verstappen and finished three behind him.

His lacklustre performance meant Red Bull took yet another hit in the Constructors’ Championship as they were outscored by McLaren with Red Bull’s advantage dwindling to 42 points.

Marko wasn’t sugarcoating the situation when asked by Sky if Perez’s future would be discussed in the coming week.

“Yes, we will,” was his blunt and chilly response.

It must be noted, though, that Perez’s position within the team is just one of the topics on the table when Red Bull’s higher-ups meet on Monday as revealed by Horner.

“We’ve got a meeting tomorrow [Monday], but it’s not just about Checo,” the team boss told the media in Spa, including PlanetF1.com.

“It’s going to have other topics on the agenda as well, which we always do going into the summer break.”

But, going on to to speak about the Constructors’ Championship and Red Bull’s need to “turn that around coming out of the break in Zandvoort”, Perez is likely to be the main topic.

In-depth analysis of the drivers’ performances at the Belgian GP

Belgian GP driver ratings: Why disqualified George Russell still deserves a perfect 10

The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings after the Belgian Grand Prix

Marko, though, wasn’t impressed with the 34-year-old’s performance in the Belgian Grand Prix.

“That is not what we expected from him. He completely collapsed, especially in the last stint,” he told Servus TV.

He continued his train of thought in a separate interview with Sky Deutschland where he said: “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 dropped off, sometimes driving times of 48.

“What looked so positive in qualifying unfortunately did not come true in the race.”

Red Bull now have a “few drivers” on the list of candidates to replace the Mexican driver if that’s what they decide to do.

“Our situation is such that we will also go through the overall situation for 2025,” he continued. “We have a few drivers – so we have a concept.

“For Sergio, eighth place [P7 after Russell’s DSQ] from second place on the grid is not what we expected.”

Red Bull are scheduled to run Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson at Imola in a filming day on Wednesday that could decide Perez’s replacement.

Read next: Belgian GP conclusions: Mercedes fireworks? Game over for Perez and Jos Verstappen factor