‘Perez under pressure to prove he’s worthy of Red Bull seat’

Perez has seen his bid to challenge Max Verstappen for this year’s world championship collapse in recent weeks, having fallen 53 points adrift of his teammate after a disastrous couple of races in Monaco and Spain. 

After losing further ground in Barcelona, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner suggested Perez will benefit from reduced pressure in the title fight. 

But Sky Sports presenter Natalie Pinkham believes Perez is now facing a different kind of pressure. 

“Christian Horner has said the pressure is off Sergio Perez, but I actually disagree,” Pinkham told the F1 Nation podcast ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. 

“The pressure is maybe off only in the sense of ‘oh, well I’m out of this world championship’. Well that’s not pressure off. That’s massive despondency that is sort of sucking the wind out of his sails. 

“I think that makes the pressure ramp up in a different way, because he has to prove that he’s worthy of the seat, albeit the second within Max’s team. 

“I think it’s a very different feeling for him now and it’s one he will not be enjoying.”

F1 Nation and FIA press conference host Tom Clarkson reckons the situation will be a welcome relief for Red Bull’s management. 

“What Horner I think actually means is that the pressure is off Christian Horner,” Clarkson said. 

“He’s no longer got to deal with two guys, ‘who do we favour, who do we not favour?’ It is clear now that Max Verstappen is going to be the one who is going to win the world championship for them. 

“So that sort of political hot potato is out the window and it’s not a management issue for Red Bull.”

But Clarkson agreed that Perez is under pressure with talents such as Lando Norris potentially up for grabs. 

“I think Perez has underperformed,” he continued. 

“You only get to the top in elite sport, in any sport, but especially in F1, where you have to be competitive with yourself. 

“It’s all about achieving at the highest level, and Perez has been left wanting. 

“That creates pressure, especially when you have drivers like Lando Norris, who have flirted with Red Bull in the past. Ok he’s got a long-term contract with McLaren. 

“But there are other drivers out there worthy of that second seat at Red Bull and we’ve seen time and again in F1 that driver contracts aren’t worth the paper they are written on. If two parties want to do a deal, it will happen.

“Perez has got to keep performing, in a sort of nothing role now. He’s got to keep performing to show he’s worthy of the seat. 

“But equally, he’s got to be the team player as well. So it’s a really frustrating second half of the season coming up I think.”