Red Bull does not have ‘natural successor’ for Perez

Red Bull is without a ready-made replacement for Sergio Perez, according to F1 mechanic-turned-pundit Marc Priestley.

The 48-year-old, who worked for McLaren from 2000 to 2009, believes the way in which Red Bull’s junior programme is set up is not conducive for producing supplementary talent.

It is a system that has facilitated the rises of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, but none of its recent graduates have succeeded at the Milton Keynes squad alongside its latest four-time F1 drivers’ champion, something that opened to door for Perez to join in the first place.

The 34-year-old proved to be a solid partner to Verstappen in the Dutchman’s first three title-winning campaigns, contributing to the team clinching the constructors’ crown wins in 2022 and 2023.

However, last season, the six-time grand prix winner came up short, unable to play an adequate supporting role as McLaren and Ferrari surpassed Red Bull.

Perez was the worst-performing team-mate to the drivers’ champion in 30 years, when Verstappen’s father, Jos, was unable to help Benetton top the constructors’ standings in 1994 – Michael Schumacher’s first title-winning season.

Having started 2024 in good form, the required performance and results fell away from Perez, who went on to collect a mere 49 points over the final 18 rounds of the year. In that span, Verstappen scored 301.

It is, therefore, no shock that Red Bull has moved to replace Perez. Although, Priestley argued it is surprising it has taken so long for the team to pull the trigger.

“It’s not a major surprise, the only surprise with the Sergio Perez situation is that it’s taken this long for a decision to be made,” he told Casino Uden Rofus.

“It’s clearly a lot more complicated behind the scenes instead of the decision being made on the driver’s performance. Otherwise, with Red Bull’s history, Perez would have been gone a long time ago.”

Priestley zeroed in on what he feels is the central reason for the delay, suggesting the lack of “natural successor” meant the team could not remove Perez from his seat sooner.

“Red Bull never had a natural successor for Sergio Perez’s seat,” he added.

“If you look at the Red Bull junior programme, the whole point is to find the next Max Verstappen or Sebastian Vettel, and they don’t have one of those right now.”

It is anticipated Red Bull will name Perez’s replacement imminently, with Liam Lawson expected to get the nod over Racing Bulls team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who will in turn be partnered by Isack Hadjar next season.