1996 world champion Damon Hill claims Sergio Perez’s recent struggles in F1 2024 have left Red Bull “a bit isolated” against the growing threat from Ferrari and McLaren.
Red Bull was expected to win all but one race in the 2023 F1 season and easily achieve another world championship double in 2024.
Sergio Pérez struggles as Red Bull ‘stands on one leg’ against McLaren and Ferrari
But despite winning four of the first five races, including three one-two finishes in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Japan when Perez trailed Max Verstappen, Red Bull have looked weakened in recent weeks, winning just one of the last three races.
The rise of McLaren and Ferrari, who won in Miami and Monaco respectively, has coincided with a worrying slump for Perez, who has not finished on the podium since the Chinese Grand Prix in April.
The Mexican driver failed to make it into Q3 in the last two races at Imola and Monte Carlo and could only manage 18th in Monaco at the weekend while Verstappen could only manage sixth.
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Despite concerns that he might suffer another mid-season slump, Red Bull announced this week that Perez had signed a contract extension to keep him with the team until the end of the 2026 F1 season.
Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Hill urged Perez to do more to support Verstappen, who is 31 points behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
He said: “I think the match is definitely on and I think both teams are showing their pace and closing the gap on Red Bull at certain circuits.”
“Give Red Bull the right track and they’ll be hard to catch, but Ferrari will definitely catch them. [and] McLaren is coming.
“Don’t forget that both teams have two drivers who can attack. I’m not sure if I can say the same about Checo, but Red Bull are struggling a bit defensively at the moment.”
“The Czech Republic is really [improve]Being 0.3 seconds behind Verstappen doesn’t mean anything anymore because so many cars can close that gap. The gap is getting smaller and smaller.
“In terms of points we can see a decline, Max’s complete dominance seems to be fading and he still has a long way to go.
“The season is so long, by the end of the British Grand Prix I think everyone will have forgotten about Monaco.” [in July]. “
The decision to keep Perez was met with some surprise, with outgoing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz still searching for an F1 seat for 2025.
However, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stressed the importance of “continuity and stability” in the team’s driver line-up, and backed Perez to regain his form at the start of the 2024 F1 season.
“Now is a key time to finalize our 2025 line-up and we are very pleased to continue our collaboration with Czech,” he said.
“Continuity and stability are important to the team and Checo and Max have a successful and strong partnership that delivered the team’s first ever one-two finish in the championship last year.
“Checo has started 2024 well, with second-place finishes in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Japan, as well as a podium finish in China.
“The last few races have been tough and there has been some chaos on the grid, but we have confidence in Checo and are looking forward to seeing him return to the proven form and performance we have always seen him perform.”
“Last year was a unicorn season and we’ll need to work hard to defend our title, but we have confidence in our line-up and the whole team, which is vital with this year’s championship looking like it’s going to be a close one.”
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