Red Bull boss Christian Horner has cautioned Sergio Perez that his current Formula 1 results are “unsustainable” amid rumours continuing to grow over his prospects.
Perez’s ongoing slump continued at Silverstone as he endured a wretched weekend that included a spin into the gravel at Copse as he sustained an elimination in Q1.
The Mexican’s latest disastrous outing was compounded when a premature switch to Intermediates when the rain descended dispelled his hopes at salvaging points.
Perez’s 17th-place finish has meant he has picked up 15 points over the past six races at a time when McLaren and Mercedes have eradicated the margin to Red Bull.
Although Max Verstappen’s brilliance has allowed the reigning champions to hold a considerable advantage, Red Bull has insisted that it needs both drivers at the top.
Speculation has arisen that Perez’s deal contains a clause which specifies he can be released should he be more than 100 points behind Verstappen at certain points.
With Perez situated 137 points back from his team-mate with two rounds to go until the summer break, Horner has reiterated Red Bull’s desire to see him regain form.
Asked about Perez encountering another troublesome outing, Horner said: “He knows it’s unsustainable to not be scoring points.
“We have to be scoring points in that car and he knows that. He knows his role and his target, so nobody is more eager than Checo to find his form again.”
McLaren made up ground on Red Bull despite Verstappen beating both the Woking-based squad’s cars home as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri rued strategic errors.
“They took seven points out of us today,” Horner said. “It’s something that we’re acutely aware of. To win a Constructors’ Championship you need both cars scoring.”
However, Red Bull could be reluctant to terminate its agreement with Perez owing to there not being an obvious solution to its long-standing second-seat conundrum.
Daniel Ricciardo has struggled to extract consistent results with RB since returning last term, while Red Bull has never been enamoured with promoting Yuki Tsunoda.
But Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson could be an outside contender to be thrown in the deep end and he is poised to complete a filming day in the RB20 this week.
The New Zealander impressed in his race appearances with Red Bull’s second-string squad last season and will have a chance to impress in a showing at Silverstone.
But Horner has dampened talk surrounding Lawson’s appearance in the Austrian outfit’s current championship-leading car, citing that it has been in the works a while.
“The Liam aero run has been planned for a couple of months now and for Checo, of course, he’s under pressure. That’s normal in Formula 1,” he added.
“And when you’re under-delivering, that pressure only mounts. He’s aware of that, he knows that and this weekend nothing has gone his way.”
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