“Hard decision” over Sergio Perez tipped as Liam Lawson threateningly looms

Red Bull must make a “hard decision” about Sergio Perez, they have been told.

Perez’s future as Max Verstappen’s teammate remains a hot topic, especially heading into his home race at the F1 Mexico Grand Prix.

He survived the axe when Red Bull opted to double-down with their faith in him, at the mid-way stage of this season.

But, since then, Liam Lawson has replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB and could show enough potential to be promoted straight into the Red Bull in 2025.

“It feels like they want a driver to come in and be quicker than Yuki Tsunoda,” Jenson Button analysed on Sky Sports.

“But if they get through enough drivers who aren’t quicker than Tsunoda, then maybe Tsunoda should be in the Red Bull seat!

“Last year, if Perez was half-a-second off Max, it was fine because the car was so quick.

“Now, he’s P8. So it’s a big issue for the team. It could cost them the constructors’ championship.

“They really have to think about it. At some point they have to make a hard decision.”

Danica Patrick added: “I would imagine they are starting to think about that. Maybe even Checo is.

“He can’t be having a blast out there. I’m sure he’s getting sick of defending himself.

“Especially being Red Bull, we know the performance is important. But, look, there is a business side too.

“The team has got to be thinking about it.”

Perez endured another largely forgettable weekend at the United States Grand Prix.

He was ninth in the sprint, then qualified 10th for the grand prix where he finished in seventh.

With both McLarens far ahead of him, it was another blow for Red Bull’s hopes of retaining the constructors’ title.

Lawson, meanwhile, started at the back of the grid due to an engine penalty but still scored points on an impressive F1 comeback.

Lawson impresses Horner and Marko

Red Bull boss Christian Horner said about Lawson to Sky Sports: “It’s a sample of one. He jumped in and looked like a veteran.

“He can be happy, he drove a great grand prix with some great overtakes.

“When you’re upsetting Fernando Alonso, you know that you’re doing something right!

“He’s a tough, hard racer.”

Lawson reacted: “Yes, I spoke to Christian and Helmut. They were positive, happy, they said ‘well done’.

“But that’s the expectation that they had for me…”

Lawson later assessed his weekend in Texas: “I think we struggled a lot and although we made a big step with the car [on Saturday], you never know – in a race it’s completely different, we don’t know if it’s going to work out exactly as we planned.

“So to have a clear step in quali and in the race with the car is really positive for me.

“I felt really comfortable which was the main target this weekend, to get to the end of it and to feel confident with the car.

“It’s always nice when you’re the overtaking car as well, which today we were, and I think it was just that hard stint at the start that really put us in a great position.

“[It’s been] just I think me getting more comfortable and the stint with the guys, the team’s worked really, really hard this weekend and we’ve been quite aggressive with changes that we’ve made, potentially more aggressive than you normally would be.

“But they’ve worked really hard for the last couple of weeks getting me prepared for this, and the guys have worked overtime to get me comfortable.

“And then with the car this weekend as well, it’s just been a big team effort. I’m very thankful for all the work they have done to get me comfortable in the car, and for it to work out like that is always a nice feeling.”