‘Broken man’ Perez to continue as Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate

Former Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert said Red Bull should replace “broken man” Sergio Perez with RB VCARD’s Yuki Tsunoda.

However, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner moved to end speculation over Perez’s future by telling the team’s staff he will continue to drive for them after the summer break, according to SkySports.

“Checo remains a Red Bull Racing driver despite recent speculation and we look forward to seeing him perform at tracks he has previously excelled at after the summer break,” Horner said.

Perez had another dismal performance over the weekend, failing to capitalise on his P2 start for the race in Spa, Belgium.

The Mexican said he’s had “enough of the speculation” around his Red Bull future as he reacted to a “really bad race” in the Belgian Grand Prix.

‘Worst driver’

Herbet said Perez was the worst performing driver at the weekend again, according to TopOffShoreSportsBooks.

“He went from the front row backwards and that is not what teams are expecting from their drivers. It is horrible to say but it is like he is damaged goods at the moment. He is a broken man mentally.

“There will normally be a performance clause within any contract and that could allow Red Bull to terminate Perez’s contract because his performances have not been good enough for the last couple of years,” Herbet said.

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Daniel Riccardo or Yuki Tsunoda

Hebert also questioned whether Tsunoda’s teammate at RB VCARD, Daniel Riccardo, should get the seat alongside two-time world champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

“I don’t think so, at least not yet. He has not been strong enough against Yuki Tsunoda. Yuki is the one I would give a go to. His racing has improved. It would not be the Daniel of old who would be up against Max,” Hebert said.

“The pressure on Max is huge. The Red Bull dominance of old has gone. That is not happening anymore. It’s all on his shoulders. You need two drivers to get as many points as you can, if you are not going to win a race as Max has been doing for the past couple of seasons.

“When you get to that situation a team has to make a change, but their choices are few. It looks like it will be either Ricciardo, against whom there is a question mark, or Yuki,” said Herbet.

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