Sergio Perez has underperformed at Red Bull ever since he joined the team against his teammate Max Verstappen, who has been dubbed a generational talent. The disparity in the Red Bull teammates’ performances was more pronounced in 2023, with 290 points separating the two, first and second in the championship with Verstappen winning his third title.

Perez has a contract to drive with Red Bull until the end of 2024, after which there is a competitive driver market with many vying for the Red Bull seat alongside Verstappen. With Perez at risk of losing his drive with the Milton Keyes outfit, team principal Christian Horner has advised the Mexican to perform better in qualifying sessions to retain his seat.

The area he needs to focus on is Saturday; making sure that his average qualifying is a lot closer to Max. We need him starting further up the grid, particularly if the grid is going to converge. We can't afford to have a lot of cars between him and Max.

Horner said, as reported by Racingnews365

Perez had a dismal qualifying record in the 2023 season despite piloting the supremely dominant RB19. The 33-year-old could not reach even Q3 on multiple instances throughout the 2023 season, inviting rumors about his replacement by Red Bull in the coming seasons.

Mika Hakkinen thinks Sergio Perez is unlikely to keep the Red Bull seat

Sergio Perez has not been up to the mark with his results in the 2023 season and now has only one season to prove himself worthy of keeping his drive. Many significant figures in the racing community have given their opinion on whether Perez will continue with the team, the most recent being Mika Hakkinen.

The double world champion Hakkinen feels that Red Bull will need two competent drivers to keep the level of dominance they are currently enjoying. Due to this, the Finn does not think Perez is likely to retain his highly sought-after spot, as Perez has not proven himself worthy of it.

We are in a competition and to bring good results, you can’t rely on one driver. You have to get two drivers to a certain level so that you can do good development. Is Perez’s future at Red Bull? I think it’s highly unlikely.

Mika Hakkinen said, as reported by si.com

However, Perez has remained adamant that he will remain on the team, even claiming he will try his best to compete with the Dutchman for the world title. Perez will be watching out for competitors like Daniel Ricciardo, as there are many other candidates to replace him on the champion team.

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