Czech Perez was consistent in each event of the 2024 F1 season until the World Cup ended in Imola. He had bagged four podiums, three seconds, and a third, and was not out of place in the classifications. However, after the visit to the iconic Italian track, the Mexican has begun to lose his rhythm.
Since the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Czech has only pocketed eight points, a pyrrhic figure for someone driving a Red Bull. In Imola and Montmeló, he reaped the same result: a sad eighth. In Monaco and Canada, he was left without adding digits to his personal account. Due to this bad streak, he has lost the second place he had at the start of the competition and now occupies the fifth position in the general drivers’ standings with 111 points.
Red Bull has not been able to open a significant gap with respect to its rivals in the Constructors’ World Cup. The Milton Keynes team dominates due to Max’s exceptional performance, but Checo is hurting them. The Austrian team has 330 points, a figure that has not distanced them too much from Ferrari (270) and McLaren (237).
Christian Horner, the director of the energy drinks team, has already sent a message. “We need Checo to get on with it. He knows it and the team knows it,” he warned. “If he is so far behind, we lose strategic options. He was fantastic in the first few races this year. We just need Checo to get back to what he did at the beginning. I think he’s had a tough couple of races and things haven’t gone his way. He’s a driver who needs a confidence boost and I think hopefully he’ll have some confidence back with what happened in Montmelo. In Barcelona, he’s back in the points. He had a decent race. Hopefully he’ll get some confidence for the next few races.”
Checo is 118 points behind his teammate and his lazy Saturdays are again a major issue. At Montmeló, he completed his fourth consecutive race without finishing in the top 10. At the Emilia-Romagna GP, he finished 11th; at Monaco, 16th; in Canada, 16th; and in Spain, 11th. His average is 13.5 times Max’s 2.75. Coming out so far from the grid, it is practically impossible to shine. Thinking about podiums and victories is a chimera with that average.
As a result, it is not surprising that the 34-year-old competitor is a victim of fierce criticism. Since his renewal was announced, he has been turned off, and for the moment, he seems unable to react. Damon Hill, world champion in 1996, has criticized Checo’s performance, saying that he enjoys the best car in F1 along with the McLaren, but he cannot keep up with Verstappen. His performance is a disaster for Red Bull ahead of the Constructors’ Championship.