Is Sergio Perez’s Red Bull seat in jeopardy?

Sergio Pérez left the Miami Grand Prix just 14 points behind teammate Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship standings, and with the streets of Monte Carlo next on the schedule, the “King of the Streets” was dreaming of turning the 2023 Formula 1 season into a proper title fight.

Since then, however, the situation has changed. A mistake in qualifying at Monaco saw Pérez fail to advance out of Q1, and he finished the Monaco Grand Prix out of the points. That touched off a string of Saturday struggles for the driver, as he failed to advance to Q3 in five-straight races.

Those struggles — coupled with the shocking return of Daniel Ricciardo to the grid — opened the door to speculation about his future with Red Bull. Pérez, who is under contract with the team through the 2024 season, received votes of confidence from both Team Principal Christian Horner as well as advisor Dr. Helmut Marko, and his second-place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of the summer shutdown seemed to silence the chatter.

Or so we thought, as one of those individuals has now opened the door to further speculation.

Marko, speaking with Austrian outlet Kleine Zeitung, is the one who opened that door. Addressing Pérez’s status with the team, including 2024, the Red Bull advisor had this to say: “Nothing is 100 percent certain in Formula 1, it just doesn’t exist. There are always performance-related situations somewhere that need to be discussed. We’ll take a look and discuss how to proceed in Zandvoort, then we’ll know more.”

This is quite the departure from Marko’s tone back in June, when he delivered that vote of confidence for Pérez. ”It’s all nonsense. Sergio’s place has never been in jeopardy and will never be in jeopardy,” declared Marko at the time.

“It is an important element in achieving the goals we have set for this year,” Marko added. “We want to finish first and second in the Drivers’ championship and become Constructors’ World Champion as quickly as possible.”

Adding to the present intrigue? Reporting from Kleine Zeitung that Marko met with none other than Ricciardo over the summer shutdown. “We saw each other, that’s clear when he comes to Graz,” said Marko. “He has a very positive personality, a successful career and incredible experience. His momentum and vigor caused a real jolt at AlphaTauri. It was a real boost of motivation.”

As this is unfolding, Pérez is hoping to continue the momentum of his own that he built at the Belgian Grand Prix, where he qualified in third but started second after a grid penalty for Verstappen. Pérez finished second in that race, and returned to the factory as soon as the break ended to begin preparing for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix:

Perhaps we now know why.