Helmut Marko still sees “Checo” Pérez as the “best option”

Amid the mid-season break in Formula 1, Red Bull’s advisor Helmut Marko has eased the pressure around Sergio “Checo” Perez ensuring that the Mexican driver remains the “best option” within the energy drink team.

In his weekly column in Speedweek, the former F1 driver, who has been one of the main critics of the Guadalajara native within Red Bull itself, acknowledged that for the moment the permanence of “Checo” Pérez is assured and they maintain confidence in an upturn in the Mexican’s performance in this second half of the season.

“It is still our best option”wrote Marko about the driver who has been the target of harsh criticism for his performance in the last nine races of the calendar in which he has not been able to achieve good results, which has affected his position within the drivers’ classification in 2024.

“Sergio Perez will also be in the Red Bull Racing car after the summer break, because now we have races on the tracks where he was good last year and we are betting on stability”added the energy drink team advisor.

After a strong start to the 2024 F1 season in which he remained behind his teammate Max Verstappen, the Mexican driver fell into a spiral of poor results after the Chinese Grand Prix, where he climbed onto the podium for the last time thanks to his third place.

“Perez doesn’t have to be faster, but more consistent and given the alternatives we have, he remains our best option”said Helmut Marko, who also took charge of dismissing the rumour that F1 is interested in keeping “Checo” Pérez only for the Mexican Grand Prix.

“Reports that his continued involvement is due to Liberty Media’s desire for him to drive in Mexico are not true. They certainly want him to contest his home race, but our choice of driver is not based on Liberty Media’s intentions.”the Austrian noted.

Liberty Media is the owner of Formula 1 and the presence of Sergio “Checo” Pérez usually helps with popularity taking into account the support that the Mexican driver receives, which usually translates into successful sales of products related to F1 and Red Bull.

The next race of the 2024 Formula 1 season will be the Dutch Grand Prix, which will take place on the weekend of August 25, where the Mexican driver of the Austrian team will seek to start the second half of the calendar on the right foot.

Continue reading:
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– Sergio “Checo” Pérez denies that his contract with Red Bull has performance clauses that could keep him out of the Austrian team
– Sergio “Checo” Pérez is worried about not being able to figure out his RB20 during free practice ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix