Checo Perez warned by Marko: He can't make any mistakes
Checo Perez's season started well, as the Mexican driver achieved two victories in the first four races. With the other teams far behind Red Bull's level, it seemed that the championship could be decided through an internal battle between teammates. However, in Monaco, the driver began to take steps backward.
Monte Carlo was just the beginning of a series of mistakes that have been accumulating since then. There, the Red Bull driver failed to pick up any points, and although he finished in the top 10 in the next two races, his performances were quite sub-par.
This situation leaves him with only a nine-point margin over Fernando Alonso, who claims that he will soon snatch the second place in the championship from Perez.
Rumors about his future started to arise, but Red Bull remained calm and stated that they believed the driver could turn the situation around.
However, it seems that they are starting to be genuinely concerned about the continuous missteps of the Mexican driver and what it could mean for the team itself.
"In Austria, he has to manage his qualifying, he cannot make any mistakes," Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said.
Checo Perez has gone three weekends without reaching Q3, so the Austrian Grand Prix, with its sprint format, becomes crucial for his season.
The qualifying session for the Sunday race will take place on Friday, which forces the driver to perform at his highest level from the first day of the weekend if he wants to secure a good position on the grid.
Open to a possible driver change
When discussing the future, Helmut Marko is no longer ruling out parting ways with Perez.
"[Perez's] initial goal was two or three years [with the team], that would be more than he planned anyway, and you just have to keep options open for the successor," he noted.
Marko does not talk about specific options, but he mentions that Daniel Ricciardo will soon get in the car to conduct tests that will allow them to assess the current level of the team's reserve driver.
"We will have Ricciardo in the car for three days after Silverstone during the tyre test, and then you can evaluate where Ricciardo really stands," Marko added.
He also issued a reminder for the whole team about what happened last year at the Red Bull Ring when Ferrari dominated on Sunday, despite Red Bull winning the sprint race.
"Last year, Ferrari surprised us in Austria," he warned.
"Although we won the sprint, [Charles] Leclerc came close to us in the final laps, and we didn't take that warning sign seriously enough."
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