Strong controversies, power struggles and fears of the Constructors’ Cup. Red Bull has made a decision, but is keeping Perez the right move?

COMMENTARY: Red Bull Racing officially confirmed on Monday night that it will not part ways with its Mexican driver despite the highly disappointing results. Sergio Pérez thus remains, against all odds, a member of a team that will still have work to do to avoid losing the Constructors’ Cup.

• Christian Horner confirmed on Monday night that Sergio Pérez is staying with Red Bull
• The Mexican is currently seventh in the drivers’ championship with 131
• Red Bull didn’t have much choice on the sporting front

It’s a thing that has pretty much rocked the entire formula community. According to Red Bull Racing’s official statement on Monday, Sergio Pérez still remains a member of the team as its race driver.

Why the Austrian stable made this decision is clear from the statement. Team boss Christian Horner said that keeping the Mexican is the best option at the moment. Needless to say, this is a matter that can indeed be analysed from several angles.

I have chosen one for this article, as objectively as possible. On social media, the overwhelming majority of negative comments are directed towards Red Bull.

And it is not surprising, because Red Bull, or rather some of its members, a few months after the beginning of the year, began to fight vehemently internally for power, money and to promote their interests. Apparently disgusted, the genius designer said exactly for that reason, when announcing his departure, that he simply didn’t like the direction Red Bull was taking.

As the season progressed, speculation grew about the departure of Max Verstappen and other important members of the team, with Christian Horner’s case of alleged inappropriate behaviour towards a female employee leaked to the public.

Checo Pérez and his off-track potential

We can’t see inside the heads of the key players, nor do we know the details of what exactly is going on at the Austrian stable at the moment. We can also only speculate whether the decision to keep Pérez is also based on sporting considerations or primarily on the financial potential of the Mexican driver.

It’s no secret that he can bring a huge amount of money to the team, not only thanks to his own sponsors.

It is thanks to him that cans of Red Bull energy drink are sold in abundance in Central and South America, with the profits also going to the highest levels of the Red Bull Racing team.

But as we can see this season, if Pérez doesn’t wake up after the summer break, Red Bull will barely hold on to the top spot in the Constructors’ Cup. It should be noted that the team’s employees understandably receive a sizable bonus from it as well, but that’s clearly not what some of them are after.

On a sporting level – did Red Bull actually have a choice?

So Horner confirmed at a team meeting in Milton Keynes on Monday that keeping Checa was the best option. And while a lot of people might not like it, she’s probably right.

With all due respect, Juki Cunoda from my perspective falls more into the average and I don’t see him as a driver for Red Bull. Both in terms of on track performance and marketing potential for example. And with his later move to Ford, I don’t think he will stay in F1 as a “racing driver” at all.

Thirdly, the formula community has often bemoaned the fact that Red Bull in the past has thrown young drivers into deep water who haven’t learned to swim in it. Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon or Daniil Kvyat. Liam Lawson hadn’t even driven F1 yet and would already be joining the team under pressure to save the Constructors’ Cup.

Yes, Lawson has shown himself in a very good light a few times, but lest a youngster burn out at Red Bull again, I identify with the view of letting him adapt in the “B” for at least a year. The uncompromising world of F1 will take an extreme toll on him in the long run, the Red Bull family especially.

Even for Lawson himself, it would be a risk. And a huge one at that. I’m not saying that he’s not theoretically ready to join Red Bull, but the specter of burnout is just there to be seen and felt. There would be a risk of damage to his confidence, his reputation and even his business potential.

Ricciardo as the ideal replacement?

Daniel Ricciardo has often been called for. But let’s ask ourselves a simple question – would he really be the man who could help Red Bull save the Constructors’ Cup? After all, he’s put in so many tragic performances this year alone…

Anyway, Red Bull is paying the price here in terms of how it approaches its academy. Especially in the Red Bull family, money comes first and Ricciardo simply delivers more than Lawson in this case. So instead of a guy who is hungry, young, promising and very talented, Red Bull has put someone in VCARB who is more of a, don’t get mad at me, business and marketing figure.

Whether, in the event of Lawson’s great form, Red Bull would have made a different decision now we won’t know. And it’s questionable whether the sport itself played any major role at all in Red Bull’s decision on Perez’s future, which I sincerely doubt.

But if it did, as things stand, I can understand the team deciding to work with what they have instead. We have a summer break, they will send Checa to a sports psychologist and hope that rest and professional help will play an appropriate role.

Source: F1, Red Bull Racing