Sergio Perez’s place with Red Bull’s Formula 1 team will be “evaluated” over the upcoming summer break amid his ongoing woes, according to advisor Helmut Marko.
Perez’s recent slump in competitiveness continued at Silverstone as he came home in a lapped 17th place to make it 15 points scored across the previous six rounds.
The Mexican’s struggles have seen him slip a huge 137 points behind team-mate Max Verstappen as rumours swirl that there are clauses related to points in his deal.
Despite penning a multi-term extension earlier this season, sources indicate that Red Bull could terminate the agreement should Perez be more than 100 points back.
Marko has all but confirmed such reports are correct and has revealed that internal conversations over Perez’s prospects at Red Bull will be held during the shutdown.
“All Formula 1 contracts have exit clauses, most of them related to performance or let’s say for the top drivers,” Marko told GrandPrix247.
“We will have an evaluation during the summer break and then we will make a decision.”
With Red Bull unenamoured with promoting Yuki Tsunoda, RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo is considered the likeliest driver to take Perez’s place should he be dropped.
However, the Australian’s inconsistent term has created no guarantees that he will remain on the grid as Marko has claimed Red Bull shareholders desire to see youth.
Liam Lawson, who deputised when Ricciardo was sidelined last term, is the next in line as Red Bull’s reserve driver and he sampled the RB20 at Silverstone this week.
Asked whether Lawson would be ushered through should Perez lose his drive, Marko responded: “First we have to see. Lawson is testing at Silverstone on Thursday.
“And yeah, so two more races and there will be more outings with Lawson. There’s also Yuki Tusnoda who is doing very well.”
But Marko has suggested that Red Bull will avoid promoting Lawson to the parent team and instead place him at RB to avoid him being burned alongside Verstappen.
Meanwhile, the Austrian also commended Red Bull prospect Arvid Lindblad, who has impressed in Formula 3 this year to register six wins to sit third in the standings.
“First of all, I’m not looking for a new Max because Max is unique,” he explained. “And it will be difficult for anyone to be his team-mate.
“We have a situation where our second driver unfortunately isn’t performing as he should. So we will have an evaluation in the summer break of what we are going to do.
“Lindblad is only 16 years old. So it’s difficult to say but you saw the race at Silverstone, the Feature Race where he had enormous pressure from [Gabriele] Mini is his second year and two years older with far more experience. He held him off and in the end, Mini cooked his tyres trying to catch him.
“For his age, he’s very mature and a lot of confidence like Liam Lawson. It might be the best thing to give them first a year at VCARB and then move up to Red Bull Racing.
“But they have, of course, to get more ready and they can’t go straightaway and say we will beat Max. That was a mistake, for example, Pierre Gasly thought he was as good as Max.
“Maybe Lawson or Lindblad will be ready in two or three years for Red Bull Racing.
“Not sure if Max will be racing at the time. If Max feels he doesn’t enjoy F1 anymore, he doesn’t want it he will come to us and say thank you, that’s it.
“He will stay in racing. I guess one of his dreams is to go to Le Mans with Jos. That will be experience.
“I don’t want to be the team principal there because of those two strong characters. But it could be a fantastic experience.”
