Helmut Marko teases “the cards will be reshuffled” with Sergio Perez’s future uncertain for 2025
“For 2025, the cards will be reshuffled.”
Red Bull F1 advisor Helmut Marko has teased that for 2025 “the cards will be reshuffled” hinting at driver changes in the near future.
On Monday, Red Bull confirmed to Crash.net that Sergio Perez will remain at the team beyond the F1 summer break, bringing an end to months of speculation about the Mexican’s future.
24 hours later, it was made clear that RB’s driver line-up of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo would also remain unchanged.
There was talk that Liam Lawson would be handed an opportunity at RB for the second half of the year once Ricciardo was moved up alongside Max Verstappen.
But as that didn’t happen, the status quo remains ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix later this month.
Speaking to F1-Insider, Marko spoke about the situation at Red Bull’s two teams, while hinting at changes for next year.
“Perez is staying. We want him to return to his old level. Ricciardo also stays and so nothing changes,” Marko said.
“For 2025, the cards will be reshuffled.”
Red Bull will be hoping Perez’s returns to form in the second part of the year, at circuits he’s traditionally performed well at - Singapore and Baku.
There were some signs of recovery for Perez before the summer break though.
His pace in the race at the Hungaroring was impressive as he beat George Russell, when both drivers started from the back of the grid.
At Spa, he qualified on the front row in tricky conditions, although the race was considerably underwhelming as he fell back to seventh in the end.
Red Bull might feel that his likely replacement - Ricciardo - wouldn’t have done a better job hence their decision.
However, with McLaren just 42 points off in the F1 constructors’ championship, they will be needing Perez to score big very soon.
