Sergio Perez told what he needs at Red Bull to challenge ‘at the front’ once again

Sergio Perez is facing a challenging final three races of 2024 as Red Bull decides whether it wants to keep the Mexican onboard after a disappointing season.

The Mexican’s results this season have put Red Bull on the back foot in the Constructors’ Championship, with them now trailing both Ferrari and McLaren. As a result, Christian Horner has increased the pressure on Perez as they attempt to recuperate millions lost in prize money at the end of the season.

Red Bull has already stated that it is focused on enabling Max Verstappen to win his fourth title, which looks set to become a reality in Las Vegas if he can outscore Lando Norris.

Perez faces costing his team the Constructors’ title twice, which would make him the first driver to do so for a team in the championship’s 70-year history, if his results fail to pick up during the triple header.

Discussing his form on The Race podcast, F1 expert Gary Anderson believes there is one thing that Red Bull must do to enable Perez to improve his results.

Sergio Perez needs car that suits his driving style to excel

Perez’s driving style differs from Verstappen, in that he prefers a more balanced car which enables him to put in precise inputs on the throttle and brake. This is why he has historically excelled on street circuits, notably at the Azerbaijan GP.

The RB20 has suffered from poor balance at recent races owing to a floor upgrade that put them on the wrong development path, causing bouncing to become a major issue for them at certain tracks.

Red Bull rectified this with a floor tweak at the US GP, but they have still not unlocked the full potential of their package and this could be the key to Perez’s success according to Anderson.

“I wouldn’t discount Red Bull. We may look at it and think they only have one driver, and that’s pretty true, but somewhat along the line I’m expecting Perez to arrive one weekend and see the old Perez,” said Anderson.

“I don’t know what will make that happen, but somewhere along the line the car does not suit his driving style and if they can actually get something on the car that will make his driving style better he can still be at the front.”

Sergio Perez close to historic points deficit from Max Verstappen

Perez is 242 points adrift of Verstappen heading into the Las Vegas race, which puts him close to last year’s historical deficit of 290 points in the Drivers’ Championship.

To put it into context, last year Verstappen could have won both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles on his own having amassed more points than both Ferrari and Mercedes alone.

A look at Perez’s points in the last four seasons he has been at Red Bull, and this is currently the lowest amount he has scored since he joined them in 2021.

Perez reportedly has a stipulation in his F1 contract that prevents him from being over 100 points behind Verstappen, but Red Bull faces having to pay out millions if it wants to sever his 2025 agreement.