Sergio Perez had a weekend to forget in Monaco, being eliminated in Q1 and suffering a DNF after Kevin Magnussen tapped his rear end. The Red Bull driver faces a grid penalty in the upcoming rounds following the damages sustained to his RB20.
Perez is one of many F1 drivers working to secure a contract extension. There is no shortage of candidates available to Red Bull in the market. Earlier in the season, this triggered plenty of speculation about the 34-year-old’s future.
Luckily for the 6-time race winner, his position at Red Bull is relatively secure. Despite a handful of bad results, alongside his 300-point deficit to Verstappen last year, the reigning Champions seem happy to continue with a known quantity at the team – and one that will not interrupt Verstappen’s position.
Regardless of his contract situation, Perez’s performances are still relevant for Red Bull. The Austrian team only has a slender advantage in the standings, which has been significantly reduced in recent weeks.
SERGIO PEREZ AT RISK OF PENALTIES
To make matters worse, a grid penalty could be unavoidable in the upcoming weeks.
The damage sustained in Monaco was extensive, as Helmut Marko confirmed in his Speedweek column. Aside from denting the team’s budget cap allocation, the crash could complicate Red Bull’s weekend in Canada – as Mark explained:
“We also don’t yet know what the gearbox and engine will look like.
“So the crash could also result in additional penalties if we have to exceed the permitted quota.”
For a driver already struggling to keep up with McLaren and Ferrari, a grid penalty would be detrimental. It only takes one strong result from the Ferrari pair of Leclerc and Sainz to erase the current 20-point Championship deficit.
Reliability in F1 has progressed substantially, with mechanical failures becoming increasingly rare. This means that one-off incidents like the one Perez suffered last weekend can have adverse effects.
Red Bull’s upgrades have already been somewhat uninspiring, with their Imola package failing to prevent their advantage from being further diminished. Therefore, any additional damage costs and grid penalties will be critical.
