Has Sergio Perez done enough for a new 2022 Red Bull F1 contract?

Formula 1 is about to head off on its traditional summer break, one that was obviously lacking last year thanks to the delayed start to the season caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The impact of that disrupted 2020 on the driver market could be seen quite clearly with the number of major moves that were announced even before the season had started, but normal service has already been resumed this year, with the majority of unconfirmed seats remaining unconfirmed as teams keep their options open.

The most high-profile of those seats is of course the Mercedes one, with Valtteri Bottas and George Russell the only two in the frame. Toto Wolff says a decision will be made during the summer break, and it’s a complex decision for the Mercedes boss to make, but he’s not the only one facing such a dilemma out of the title contenders…

While Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are locked in, their respective team-mates aren’t and at Red Bull it is perhaps surprising that there remains uncertainty – as used to it as we’ve been in the past – because the team went in a different direction this year.

We didn’t expect to be asking ‘Has Perez done enough?’ after Baku

In hiring Sergio Perez and dropping Alex Albon, Red Bull went for the tried-and-tested approach rather than its usual concept of promoting from within. There clearly wasn’t enough faith in either Albon to bounce back from a tough 2020, nor Pierre Gasly to perform if handed a second chance alongside Verstappen.

Perez was the obvious candidate. Out of a drive after being unceremoniously dumped by Racing Point in favour of Sebastian Vettel, he then duly won a thrilling Sakhir Grand Prix and showed he has what it takes to deliver the biggest results when they are on offer. But has he done that often enough this year to convince Red Bull to stick with him?

On top of that, the original decision to sign Perez in the first place went completely against the Red Bull ethos of promoting exciting young drivers that have come through its academy – whether they’re ready or not. Both Albon and Gasly weren’t ready, but Albon was the closer of the two. He appeared that bit more adaptable and confident when the car was working for him than the Frenchman he replaced.

But Gasly has come on leaps and bounds since then after being given a second chance at AlphaTauri. It’s a good place for him, no doubt, but even Red Bull are starting to find his performances hard to ignore. Where talk of a return to the main team was dismissed in the past – and is still given little time – now Helmut Marko at least says Gasly would not perform like he did in 2019 if handed another chance.

It’s a small change in tone, but one that just reminds Perez that the quality within the Red Bull ranks is still being acknowledged.

It also shouldn’t be overlooked that Perez might need to do a little bit more than either Albon or Gasly would in the same position, given the investment Red Bull makes in its own drivers. To stick with Perez would continue to undermine the young driver programme to a degree, and therefore what could prove to the the right sporting decision gets a little bit of resistance from a wider business point of view.

The relative struggles of Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo in new cars perhaps bought Perez some time at the start of the year, because it was clearly difficult to make a switch. But the ongoing gap to Verstappen over one lap is being accentuated by impressive performances from youngsters in qualifying, with Perez only registering one top-three qualifying result since Spain, when Lando Norris split the Red Bulls in the second Austrian round.

Qualifying eighth in Spain, ninth in Monaco and seventh in Baku has been followed by more consistency on Saturdays, but there haven’t been the Sunday results to match, with a solid podium in France preceding a fourth and sixth – beaten by both Mercedes’ drivers on both occasions – as Verstappen dominated in Austria.

And Silverstone was another painful one, with Perez spinning in the Sprint and having to start from the pit lane, eventually being reduced to the role of sacrificing a point or two of his own in favour of taking the fastest lap point away from Hamilton.

That came after Verstappen’s crash, but Perez’s own struggles ensured it was a pointless weekend for Red Bull. While he did what the team asked with the fastest lap, he wasn’t running near the front to limit the damage, and that’s what Red Bull wanted from the more experienced choice this year.

There have been enough highs – and good ones – that could lead to an early decision, but Red Bull might also be tempted to wait it out a little longer to see how Perez fares in the second half of the season. With Norris and Bottas ahead of the Mexican in the drivers’ championship right now, there might just be a bigger question mark than expected over that Red Bull seat this summer.