The confusing case of Sergio Perez

There is a meme that occasionally does the rounds on the Internet with a dog in a hat sitting at a table with a cup of tea while the room is on fire. Accompanying the images is a speech bubble and the words “this is fine”.

That image pretty much summed up Sergio Perez’s reaction as he faced the media after his latest failure in his attempts to secure his Red Bull future after crashing out during Q1 in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Everything is fine. This changes nothing. It will all be OK in the end. It is a strange mentality to have when so much appears to be at stake.

It seems somewhat incredible that on 4 June, Red Bull confirmed they had signed Perez to a two-year extension, albeit in the middle of a wretched run of results. It had hoped that the security of having that contract in place would ease the uncertainty over his future and correlate to improved performances on-track. Only it hasn’t.

Since signing the deal, the 34-year-old retired from the race in Canada, was eighth in Spain, seventh in Austria and placed a lowly 17th at Silverstone, leaving Red Bull wondering if it was right to offer him an extension.

Subsequently, he finds himself under pressure to turn his alarming dip in form around of see the world champions cancel the contract.

Maybe it was that pressure that caused him to skid off track and into the barriers, which resulted in him qualifying in 16th for today’s race – depending on penalties should he require new engine components or a new gearbox.

Red Bull Racing RB20 of Sergio Perez after his crash

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

On the face of it, the strain is undeniable, except it seems for one man, Perez himself, who maintained in the media scum that “he’s not worried” despite Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko saying Perez would be evaluated over the summer.

“Nothing changes,” said Perez. “I’m not worried, I’m fully determined to turn my season around and focus on my performance. It hurts a lot as a driver when you let your team down but I will not give up. I will really give my very best to turn the situation around and push as much as possible to get those constructors’ home.”

Is he really that self-assured? Does he know something that Red Bull has not made clear about his future? Or is it all bravado and that secretly he’s concerned and not willing to admit it?

I suspect it is the latter, for he gave a telling response to one question on whether Formula 1 ‘was still fun’ for him, given his position.

His answer seemed more plausible as he explained he would not quit, for it sends the wrong message to his four children; an endearing and noble sentiment.

He said: “Yeah…I’m really finding it… I wouldn’t say fun, I would say a challenge, something that mentally is really tough, and the easiest way will be just to give up, after the career I’ve had, just to say it’s been enough. But it’s not what I want to teach my kids, it’s not what I want to show, that sort of character.

“I think it’s important to turn things around, get back to our form because it was not that long ago, it’s just one after the other. You’ve seen it with many other drivers, they have a difficult weekend but probably when you are at Red Bull it’s a lot more notorious. I just want to get back and I will get back, I will not give up.”

It all sends a rather mixed message and could account for the difficulty in trying to understand his mindset which seems delusional. But I do think that in that final answer, he showed his hand and that deep down, he is incredibly concerned. So he should be.